
a"** Series 

COLONIAL 



The Towle Mfg. Company 

^ '^ SILVERSMITHS ^ ^ 

Ncwburyport, Mass. *^ Chicago, 111. 



C c . . r i 1 ' 1 . 1 



lie 1',. wl c Mil-. Ci 




STERLING 



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Tow\ 





M pMttvn of ^^spoons, forfes 




anD all otl)cc piccejtf ofA^Katlle iFlat 



SZ^jlte *• ijef partlp lefljoton in tl)ij^ t»oofe, m 



ujl]ifl) iis" al0O gtbm an account of ttjt if|ief 
eijents of tije smat of t<ie Meiioltttion 



an& tljc actjg of oyprcjgjgton tPl)tcl) yrccc&cb 



anb jjrobohfti tt;^ to tpljid] arc aD&cti gnnbrp 



pictured of places anb gfiitlpg it)cntifict> 



ijDitl) tl^isf niottiauousf conflict >^ anti in jfome 



cascjEf cjcnniJlifpinff tljc (STOlOttf al, or mo^t 



propcrlp callctJ ^tOVQUtl ^^tplc of arcl^i 



tccture, from U)l)ict) tlyt benign of tl^ijS yattcrn 



ifif bcribclj; tol)icl3 lestplc tuaiS firat protiuceli in 



tenfllan^ in tijcf fflfjtetntfi centtttrs antj 



tuajS tl)c res ult of an adaptation of classical 
clnnnitff to nctt contiittonjg of application, anti 



alloftuljicljififapi 



purtcnant to ti^c 




,^: f^'^ 




A PROCLAMATION, 

!-or fupprcfTing Rtbcllion and Sedition. 



. ' i Pliauiiou 
.r.d forp^it't 
I jnj fuUAtnca 
c oi the Pwblick 
nJ lo the Oppndloa of Our 



GEORGE R. 

^HERBAS miriy o« Ouf SubjcOt in di»«n Pj'M ' 
i in Ntrth AmfHJ. iTilUd by ding<toui jivd il. 
tf^c Allt^iiBcc whKh ihry o»e lo ihc P<»«ri i 
I ih«m, »lttr vjfis j» dilordcil^ Art» cocnni t!«l 
[ r<aie. lu (he Ot>ilrudton ot |j«>(ul Commerce. 

loyil Sub^tOi ciriyirg vn th« bmc. hi>c ai Itnch pfocctdra to sa o^cit aad 
' skovtcd Rebellion, by •ffijinp .t-.-i' ■ • •■ ■ v \.*.-.-,r r., fihil^"'! i^c 
)n ol ihc Ljw, and t(4>' . ^'■■' 

' •piinrt Ut; And Hhcrcai <*»»'»■ 
btcn much promoted inJ cncourigcJ by the iiamr.. <: t 

divtri KicLcd and d«rptrjt( Pctfont Hiihm tSi» Realm T<. (Ke !> ! :t t-<.y-: iNi rcnc f O^' >ut,,t^» 
may ncrlc^ or violitc their Duty through Ignorance ihcrtoi, or through anv Doubt 'of the Pro4c<lioa 
which ibc Law will atfofJ to their Lo}alty and 7e;' ; We hut •k'>wfht 'i!, by »*^ •<:H iK* Ad^tr tJ 
0«r Priw Ccuncil, to ilTue (ht» Our Royjl P ' . i - ■ , i . _ . ■ ■. p ^ 

Officcri CimI and Milnaiy are oblitcd lo t»t - I 

to brir\g (he 1 r;<to«i 10 Jttllttc ; but ihjt j' - > 

belonging are bound \ ^ I i . n tv ^i f r • 




dilclofc and make L 
And Wc do acco'-: 
■imI all oihfr Our . 

fupprdi fuih_ Rctxil. ■.. irj t. ^-.l.:, U jn l r.lc tr ,n jl 1 '- 

ractct «hich ihty (hall inow to be agi-nll L't, Our Crown and I' 

that iKcv fn-f-n-l ro Of** of Pvf Pnot.pal SctrctarK* of State, or 

fb!' f ■ . ri ji^^ji j^ ("ownd carryiBf o« d 

A1 the Pcri^i eow ta opett Air 

Cc -niti arul PlaniaiiOAl in //fi^ 

ccr^j, - 1 .i^<iiator«, and Abettgr* wTfuch tr. 



.:-i I J 

' t's 0«i Ow*n 4tal UitftMy, 

.'I u «cll C>il ai UtUaf, 

f "fcK .rt 11 oithAaaid ud 

'ori« OmI^- 



■\-<r. dwc 1 



a{jtn(\ Ovr 



Ctvcn at Our Covn •! St y*mn'*, iKe Tw«niy>third Day oT WLj •/, One ikouland 
fcvcfi hwndicd j<mJ lomty-fi«c, in the Ptftetmh Year of Oht iUif". 



I ""|N the outskirts of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, by the water's edge, 

= /"^X = stands a picturesque old mansion that will, if we are so minded, carry 
i V-/ I us backward, at one step, to the "Old Colony days" when George 
ri iiiMiiiNi^ III ruled over the English people on both sides of the Atlantic. 

It was built by Governor Benning Wentworth, and from under its roof '75° 
issued those first edicts of oppression that stirred the people to revolt. Within '7^j 
its walls one needs but little help from fancy to people it again with loval re- 
tainers, assembled, perhaps, in its ancient council chamber, with ample chim- 
ney-piece, the carven heads of which might, could they exercise the privilege of 
their sex, reveal many a bit of inner history. We are prosaic indeed if we do not 
feel the menace of sudden alarms suggested by the grim array of muskets on either 
side of the stoutly barred door ; and the discovery of a prisoner's ward, tucked away 
in a remote corner, should complete a realization of the stern conditions of life in the 
eighteenth century. 

It is not our purpose, however, to linger in this house, fascinating though it be, 
but to pass through it from the world of to-day to the times it so vividly recalls. 
Two names that are intimately connected with it will readily take us across the 
ocean, and back through a century and more, to the court of the king whose mis- 
guided policy was the birth-warrant of our nation. One of these we find in New- 
castle, separated by a devious inlet from Little Harbor — where Governor Wentworth 
built — and reminiscent of the Duke of Newcastle who was prime minister of 
England and leader of the Whig party at the beginning of the Revolutionary period. '76^ 
A few years later, after the turn of events had deprived him of power, he again '7^' 
entered the cabinet with the post of privy seal under the leadership of the Marquis of 
Rockingham, a member of the Wentworth family, for whom Governor Wentworth 
had named the county back of Portsmouth and Newcastle. 

Although nominally representative of the people. Parliament was in those days 
the creature of its leaders, or the King, as successive complications favored one or the 
other ; boroughs were bought or bullied by the dominant party, and thus the mo- 
mentous enactments that goaded the colonists to revolt were the results of contested 



intrigue, a game with living 
played by the government 
which the English people 
The conception of the 
to Jenkinson, secretary to 
vored minister : but Parlia- 



^n ®ltr li^ottst 




pieces and tremendous stakes, 
and the opposition, and in 
had little real voice, 
odious Stamp Act is credited- 
Lord Bute, the King's fa- 
ment rejected it when first '7^^ 

Stamp 



n<>5 



177S 



nt>5 



,7U, 




Mi><'wvjynan 








proposed, although it was universally conceded that America should contribute to the 
payment of the enormous public debt contracted in the protection of the colonies 
from the French and Indians. Even Americans acquiesced in this sentiment, but 
they proposed to pay it by grants from their assemblies and in their own way. 
George, however, had been exhorted by his mother, the Princess Dowager, to "be 
a king " and encouraged to assert his individuality — advice which conditions did not 
favor, nor the King's ability warrant, but which he persistently endeavored to carry 
out in spite of its disastrous effect. Under these circumstances the proposition to 
lew a stamp tax was revived and the act passed in February, 176;. William Pitt, 
the constant champion of the colonies, was ill at the time, and greatly deplored its 
passage. Throughout the remainder of his life, which ended while the war was in 
progress, Pitt, afterwards Lord Chatham, was an ardent advocate of the liberties o( the 
colonists ; but his efforts were of little avail, and although he was at one time urged 
by the King to form a ministry, many concessions being made to induce him to do 
so, personal ambition and the resulting internal friction had so divided his party 
that he was unable to unite the leaders, and the policy then in force was suffered to 
continue. 

In America the Stamp Act was resented as a measure of arbitrary domination, an 
irritating and unreasonable form of taxation with no compensatory representation. 
N'irginia was the first colony to voice the opposition to this measure, and was imme- 
diately followed by Massachusetts, which proposed a congress of delegates from the 
assemblies of all the colonies to take united action in protest. The congress met in 
1765, and as a result of this, and Pitt's scathing denunciation in England, the Stamp 
Act was repealed early in the following year. 

The King from this time lost no opportunity of strengthening his party in 
Parliament, and bv the patronage he could dispense and the intimidation of country 
boroughs, was able to control both houses and secure the enactment ot his policy. 
His next measure was the levying of import duties on colonial commerce, which was 



2rtjr .Stamp SIct 




/fT A 




(BUttuuetj- piece 

(^0uneU (BU»mbet 









growing rapidly in importance, espe- /ftf i ■*■ ♦ '76y 

daily with the West Indies ; and with 
England alone amounted to about six 
million pounds per year, nearly equal- 
ling the total of British commerce with 
the world at the beginning of that 
century. This also met with bitter 

protest and was later repealed on every- ' ill^^-, t -^r-:»:-x ■ ' - ■" -' .-i;^"-^^"' '77^'' 
thing but tea, which was made to bear 
the burden of the principle of English 
sovereignty. This principle was as 
clearly discerned in America as in Eng- 
land, and the renunciation of tea be- 
came a test of patriotism. Philadelphia V ^i^ ^ H;^;^ ^^ \^ ^^ ' ...,..\...7ZZT ' '773 

had publicly denounced all traffic in 
tea, and the act had been endorsed bv 
Boston when three ships laden with 
the obnoxious commoditv arrived at 
the latter port. Their arrival was fol- 
lowed by indignant gatherings in Fan- 
euil Hall, and the consignees were 
forced by public opinion to promise 
that the ships would be sent back with- 
out unloading ; but this the Roval Gov- 
ernor refused to permit, and declared 
that no clearance papers would be is- 
sued until the cargoes were discharged. 
At the close of a particularly demon- 
strative meeting held at the Old South Church on the afternoon of December 
sixteenth, 1773, a party of fifty citizens, disguised as Indians, led the way to the 
wharf, and, boarding the vessels, scattered into the harbor the contents of three 
hundred and forty-two chests, the property of the East India Company, valued in the 
neighborhood of one hundred thousand dollars. 

In consequence of this action and lesser excuses, Massachusetts was subjected to 1774 
a repressive policy which deprived the colonists of many liberties and was intended 
to precipitate a struggle, which the King believed would be short and decisive, for 

the purpose of finally settling the dependence of the 
colonies and the sovereignty of England. 

The effect of this "Port Bill," as the chief of 
these measures was called, was — as was expected — 
to confirm the colonists in their resistance, but not in 
the rash and isolated way that was hoped for. Keen, 
powerful intellects guided the people, in the persons 
of Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, 
and others, and they immediately set about to secure 
the cooperation of the other colonies, many of which 
were ripe for action, notably Virginia, where Patrick 



-&iimm\. 



Tt^ 




WittttuortU ll^oufte 



|iii!iii)i|iii!iniiiiiiiniiii[!!i;iii,ii:ini!iiiiin{i!!liiniil! 

.llllll.i'ilJillMlll, 




I SHILLING.; 



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13o6ton STca )Mtts> 



IT'S 



'774 



1774 




(georjBx^n 




Hcnr\ luiJ >omo \iMrs earlier openly dcnounteJ Briii-h oppression, hut h.i' \.^-'<--c. 
the clear issues prevalent in the Bay State. They organized a Committee ot Corres- 
pondence, and, authorized by the General Assembly of Massachusetts, urged each 
colony to send delegates to a congress at Philadelphia on the first of the tbilowing 
September. 

In June of that year, I 774, the port of Boston, then under the military rule of 
General Gage — who had superseded Governor Hutchinson — was closed to com- 
merce, causing a complete stagnation of business of all kinds, and much deprivation 
and suffering among the people. 

A considerable clement in Parliament was strongly opposed to this cruelty, 
and champions of the cause of America were not lacking who predicted the ultimate 
ruin England would suffer from this unwarranted oppression ot her own sons, to 
whom, as they urged, the sentiments of liberty were as precious, and whose strength 
of purpose was as great, as though no ocean separated them from the free institutions 
of the mother country. Thev were powerless, however, to check the wave of vin- 
dictivencss that now, under the fostering care of the King's favorites, was extending 
even to the people. 

The large cities, always the strongholds of advanced ideas, were still in sympathy 
with the colonists, and the spectacle is presented of the city of London, in its corporate 
capacity, subscribing one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the relief of suffering 
in Boston, caused by the acts of Parliament. These were eventful days in the New 
England town, for although the people suffered, their enthusiasm was in no way 
diminished, and they overthrew all civil institutions emanating from the crown. 

Many prominent people who had until this 
time reserved the right to support the King's 
j;overnment and hoped for a peaceful settle- 
ment of all troubles, now saw the serious- 
ness of the situation, and realizing the near 
.ipproach of inevitable division, sank their 
personal regrets in love of country and joined 
heartily in the cause of liberty. 

On the fifth of September, fifty-three 
ielegates assembled in Carpenter's Hall, 
Philadelphia, and under the presidency of 
Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, formed a Con- 
tinental Congress. While recognizing the 
necessity of united action, these delegates, as 
.1 whole, had not yet reached a realization of 
(he need of aggressive rebellion. The habit 
of lovaltv was too strong to be put off at 
once, and it was with a certain deference, 
albeit firmness, that they appealed to the 
King, and to the people of Great Britain, to 
withdraw the odious measures that threat- 
ened to alienate the colonies. Georgia, the 
especial protigij of the King, was alone un- 
represented at this gathering, and though at 



^ 
§ 



9 t tv ^ a 6 8 




iF I r !8 1 e nt I n r lU a I tf o n o v r s « 




UleorjBii^n 




JFaneuUfjall 



Boston 



heart the delegates dreaded 
the cuhnination of events 
which their acts were for- 
warding, the congress 
adopted measures to 
strengthen the union and 
co-operation of the states, 
indorsed Massachusetts in 
its resistance, and planned 
and appointed a second 
congress to meet the fol- 
lowing May. Although 
independence was not yet 
declared, and, in the minds 
of many, was only a re- 
mote possibility, it was in 
reality inaugurated on that 

twentieth of October, .,'~ ___f^ 

1774, when the "Dec- 7" "^ 

laration of Colonial '"-••-• 

Rights," a comprehensive document which recited the m|ustices 




'774 



of Parliament and 
asserted the right of self-government, was signed by the "American Association," 
the forerunner of the confederacy later announced as the "United States of 
America." 

As seed cast on fertile ground germinates and develops of its innate powers, so 
the American Revolution needed but the lightest sanction of administrative authority. 
Its real life was the unwavering determination of individuals and communities to meet 
squarely every issue, to see great principles behind even small aggressions, to neither 
palliate nor compromise, to rise above considerations of policy and to act from the first 
with no provision for failure and no desire for qualified victory. 

Separation from the mother country was but incidental to this struggle, and was 
only determined upon when in .the progress of events it was recognized as inevitable. 
The principles of liberty for which the patriots contended were no less applicable here 
than in England itself, where their kinsmen had declared and enacted them nearly a 
century before. 

This spirit was manifest, but it was King George, with his succession of blundering 
provocations, who nourished the Revolution. Had he realized the quality of the 
resistance and listened to the entreatings of Franklin and the other colonial agents at 
Parliament, he could easily have retained that lovalism which was dear to the colon- 
ists, and' the price of which was only the extension of equal liberty to his subjects at 
home and abroad. 

Although at this time the Americans were endeavoring to obtain a peaceful estab- 
lishment of their rights, they clearly perceived the need of military organization, and 
in November the "Provincial Congress" of Massachusetts, — the General Court 
under a new name — voted to enroll twelve thousand "minute men" who were to 
be prepared to respond immediately when the conflict should begin ; later it declared 
its wish for peace, but advised preparations for war. Other colonies took similar 



1774 



Cl)f **^mtrfcan asBocf atton** 




(georfli^n 




\r- 



ms 




aiii'Miiiui iiuiu minor cj.i.ioUc:. i.^or. I'l-i^c .-. iuva arc i.,^a.,, held 
to he the initiative of the Revolution. December sixth, the peo- 
ple of Rhode Island seized a large quantity of ordnance in ihe 
batteries at Newport, in anticipation of its employment by the 
King's troops, and the same action was taken on the thirteenth 
bv the people of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who seized and 
removed a large quantity of ammunition and ordnance then in 
the keeping of the garrison of Fort William and Mary, at New- 
castle. In the following February, the people of Salem, Mas- 
sachusetts, taking heed from the warning of their governing body, 
(.gan preparations for defense. These were met by an expedi- 
tion from Gage's forces at Boston, and an engagement was 
iibiiu , ifi^y;: narrowly averted. The real uprising, however, from which 
I ^SSi armed rebellion dates, was to come later at Concord and Lex- 

ington. 

Parliament had officially declared a state of rebellion existent 
in Massachusetts and embarked large reinforcements to the three 
thousand British troops in Boston, while the patriots watched 
every movement of the British and prepared to meet their first 
iJvancc, which in the nature of things could not long be de- 
layed. General Gage, the British commander, realized it to be 
his dutv to break up these preparations, and planned a secret 
raid on the stores and munitions which the Americans had con- 
centrated at Concord, some miles from Boston, in order that they 
might be safelv outside the line of fortifications which the British 
were erecting. The plan also included the capture of John 
Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were believed to be in that 
neighborhood, and who were justly regarded as most dangerous to British interests. 
With this object troops to the number of eight hundred left Boston for Cambridge 
/-7j- shortly before midnight of April eighteenth, and with such speed as was possible, 
marched toward Lexington, on the road to Concord. They had counted on the 
secrecv of their movements to make the attainment of their object easy, but in this they 
underestimated the watchfulness and penetration of their opponent.^, tor their purpose 
was understood in advance and measures taken to spread the alarm when they should 
actually start. 

Paul Revere had obtained the information, and he repaired to Charlestown that 
evening, there to await the signal which he had directed to be shown from the spire 
of the North Church when the soldiers were known to have started. The two 
lights, telling him that thev had gone by water to Cambridge, shone out at eleven 
o'clock and started Revere on his momentous ride. He was obliged to take a cir- 
cuitous route to escape British sentinels, who challenged him and who would have cap- 
tured a less alert man. In spite of this he gained a great 
advance over the attacking force, and alarmed the country to 
Lexington, where he awakened Adams and Hancock, and 
was joined bv two others in his ride toward Concord. 
They were hardiv started when they were intercepted by 
British officers and Revere and Dawes were taken prisoners. 



©tApowder 



"^^ 



Xetv EnglanJ Flu* 



?j A r I y a C t 9 










ppi 



while Dr. Prescott, the 
third member ot the party, 
jumped his horse over a 
wall and escaped to carry 
the alarm the remainder of 
the way. 

What it meant to the 
farmers was evident when, 
early in the morning, the 
regulars reached Lexington 
and found the minute-men 
drawn up on the green to 
meet them. Compared 
with the British, the patriots 
were few and were poorly 
equipped and drilled, but 
their cause was righteous 
and they believed in it in 
the face of death. Thev, 
therefore, paid no heed to 
the demand that they dis- 
perse, but met force with force and shed the first blood of the Revolution. Eight 
Americans were killed and others wounded, and the British then continued their 
march to Concord. Their commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, alarmed by the 
evidences of resistance that he encountered, had sent back to Boston tor reinforce- 
ments, which were hastening to his assistance. 

Their mission at Concord was accomplished mgloriously to the extent of destroy- 
ing such few stores and guns as the Americans had been unable to secrete, and they 
were about to return when they discovered the minute-men advancing from the farther 
side of the North Bridge. They essayed to cut off the approach of the Americans 
by removing the bridge, but were too late, and, being obliged to retreat or fire, chose 
the latter, and were answered bv a voUev which drove them from their position. This 
was the beginning of the first real fight, the passage at Lexington being hardly main- 
tained to an extent to justify that title. The farmers withdrew to such shelter as they 
could find and awaited further movements of the regulars, who started about noon 
for their return to Boston. Their march was the signal for renewed firing by the 
Americans, who followed them, and from the shelter of stone walls and trees de- 
livered a harassing and destructive fire. 

Thoroughly routed, they were fast being reduced when they were met by 
the advancing reinforcements, one thousand men under Lord Percy, and tor a while 
they rested under this protection. The remainder of the retreat, even with the 
greatly increased force, was a repetition of the beginning, and when they finally 
arrived in Charlestown, and under the guns of the British ships, they were in 
almost a panic. 

Thus began the Revolution; and the alarm carried bv Paul Revere was extended 
in all directions until every road leading to Concord was filled with minute-men 
hastening to reinforce their compatriots. Thev remained in waiting a few days. 



^77S 



(toncovlf an5f 2l(vin0ton 




i&t0Tii%^x\ 




I 



but ii<j lurth'.r a::.i---- - ■:'.'.'.^ milj ' . ■ • ■ ." • • ■ : ;:,,_;.: ijrgjii- 

ization and equipment. They realized that the struggle which was now begun meant 
systematic operations of defense, for which they were as yet unprepared, and an 
armv was recruited and established in Cambridge to be ready for such action as 
might be necessary. 

In the meantime the Massachusetts delegation to the second Congress had 
journeyed, in a succession of ovations, to Philadelphia, and were assured of the approval 
and support of the intervening colonies. May tenth, the day this Congress opened, 
'77S was signalized, though the members knew not of it, by the capture of Ticonderoga 
by an expedition from Connecticut under Colonel Ethan Allen, and a large quantity 
of ammunition and ordnance was turned over to the army. Events were moving 
rapidly without Congress, but it was essential that there be a central authority to out- 
line the policy to be pursued and provide means for effecting it. Even now Con- 
gress distrusted its own right to be, and repeated its supplications to George III to 
settle without further bloodshed the differences that existed. 

These cntreatings evidence the reluctance of the delegates to forswear their 
allegiance to England, but the fact that they nevertheless took such measures as were 
possible to organize and equip an army is proof also of their steadiness of purpose and 
desperate belief in the worthiness of their cause. 

The first important act of Congress was the appoint- 
ment of George Washington, one of the delegates from 
Virginia, commander-in-chief of the American army, 
which was then, to the number of upwards of fifteen thou- 
sand men, encamped in the vicinity of Boston. 

This armv, recruited by the Provincial Congress 
of Massachusetts, was made up of the minute-men who 
had risen on the alarm of Lexington, but who had, in the 
meantime, returned to their homes for reorganization, and 
later volunteers, with considerable reinforcements from 
neighboring states, notably New Hampshire and Con- 
necticut ; and under the leadership 
of officers whose names are now the 
foundations of Revolutionarv history, 
was besieging Boston and planning to 
drive out the British, or at least to 
prevent them from increasing their 
holdings. 
'77J J'^2Sfc, " Z-'.^^"^ While Washington was preparing 

to start for New England, events in 
Boston were rapidiv shaping them- 
selves for the active operations of war. 
General Gage, the British commander, 
was forced to take measures to 



©I agouti) 

([ri)iircl) J 




maintain his position, and determined to forestall the Americans in the occupation of 
Charlestown, across the river, and so near his headquarters that he was liable at any 
time to be subjected to a harassing fire. His plans were disturbed, however, bv the dis- 
covery, on the morning of June seventeenth, of fortifications which the Americans had 



Strong (Tongrros 




^£^^M I jy.*^ii 




Bedford I ^as$. 




thrown up on Bunker Hill !n one short night. 
It had become known to the American 
commanders that Gage contemplated moving 
on the eighteenth, and over a thousand hardy 

and intelligent men, under skillful direction, '^^'^ ^77j 

worked with pick and shovel from the settling 
of darkness on the sixteenth to the dawn of 
the seventeenth, and then, with slight rein- 
forcements, awaited the attack of the British. 
Prescott, Warren, Stark, and Knowlton 
were among the American commanders, and 
by their personal braverv and perseverance 
they sustained the courage of their men, with 
the result that the British attacking force of 
three thousand, with all its perfect equip- 
ment, was twice repulsed with fearful loss, 
and only yielded to after a third destructive 
charge, and when the last round of their 
meagre ammunition was e.xhausted. Under the cover of a protecting fire from a line 
of auxiliary defense, a part of the original plan, the Americans retreated and left the 
British in possession of one of the most dearly bought battle-fields of history. The 
British loss was enormous, and this engagement prevented further aggression beyond 
the limits of their original holding. It also resulted in the superseding of Gage by 
General Howe, as commander of all the British forces. The news of this battle 
reached Washington soon after he had left Philadelphia, and aroused in him con- 
fidence in the eventual success of the American cause. He arrived in the vicinity 
of Boston on July second, and on the third took command of the troops drawn up on 
Cambridge common. 

This army, though considerable in numbers and overflowing with patriotism, was 
lacking in military organization, and to the task of drilling and uniting it, and also 
supplying ammunition and further equipment, Washington applied himself through the 
summer and following winter, while maintaining a close siege over the British in 
Boston. Earlv in March, 1776, under the cover of a bombardment from his base '77^ 
of operations, Washington secretly marched a large body of men to Dorchester 
Heights, a commanding position on the opposite side of Boston, and one of ex- 
treme menace to the British. The latter awoke on the morning of March fifth, to 
find a repetition of the frowning embankments that had spurred them to action on 
Bunker Hill, this time on the landward side of the town, though separated from it 
bv a small bay. 

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Howe made preparations for attack, but 
unfavorable weather prevailed for a day or two, giving the Americans opportunity for 

strengthening their position, and after 

'■;: JSj^ some days of hesitation, the British 

*'»»nl '^i evacuated Boston, sailing away on March 

seventeenth, and carrying with them 

about a thousand Tories, whom they 









/? 



^/ *;;■■ OONT fiRE UNLESS nScO UPON 
/;_.:>:?-euTIf THEY MEAN TO HAVE AwAR,, 

»fts*»«.y:..^^.. ........... . ... ......^^^.g^^rtjH 




B u I d e r 
Green 



on Lexington 



10 




(&t0TQi}xn 




n 



©la^tate^ouec 
f 6 t n ; 



transpiirtfd wiih tlicir j;'" i- ' ■ li i 'ax. 
New England, the birthplace of the 
Revolution, was thus saved to the Ameri- 
cans, and freed, for the most part, from 
further strife in the barely awakened 
cause. 

Washington, from time of taking com- 
mand of the army, was the centre of inter- 
est, and the course of the Revolution was 
chiefly with the troops under his personal 
direction ; but it is necessary, in even an 
outline of the war, to note certain secon- 
dary expeditions and lesser incidents in 
progress at the time when Washington 
was encamped before Boston. 

Canada was recognized from the first, 
by the American leaders, as a menace to 
the unity of the colonies bv' reason of 
the possibilities it offered as a base for 
operations through the vallcv of the Hud- 
son to the sea-coast, which would isolate 
New England and prevent its intercom- 
munication, cither offensive or defensive, 

with other sections. To obviate this 

danger, Washington carlv decided to at- 
tempt the conquest of Canada, and organized two expeditions, to travel different 
routes and meet at Quebec for a joint assault. 

One under Montgomery passed up Lake Champlain and captured Montreal and 
intervening points. The other under Benedict .Arnold embarked at Newburyport, 
and then, following the Kennebec River, and through the wilderness beyond, reached 
Quebec in December, 1775, after a journey of extraordinary difficulty and hardship. 
Montgomery, with but a remnant of his forces, soon arrived, and with those of Arnold 
— also greatly diminished — formed an attacking body of but little over a thousand 
men, to assault a city noted t'ur its strong situation and elaborate fortifications. The 
attempt, though gallant and tor a time encouraging, failed with the death of Mont- 
gomery and wounding of Arnold ; and although held besieged by the latter for 
the rest of the winter, the city remained in the possession of the British, and 
in the spring the Americans were forced, by the approach of a powerful relief 
'77(> expedition under Sir Guv Carleton, to abandon their advantage and leave Canada 
for good and all. 

At this time the British were using their ships, against which we could as yet 
oppose none, to harass outlying ports, and with apparently no plan other than the 
resulting terror and apprehension in all coast towns. Falmouth, Maine, now Port- 
land, was bombarded and then burned ; and the British, at the instigation of Lord 
ms Dunmore, Governor of the Province, attacked Hampton, \'irginia, and later Nor- 
folk. At both places thev were repulsed, but Norfolk suffered heavily from bombard- 
ment and fire. Patriotism in the South was further stimulated bv an attack on 




<Sltirtirr ISvpttiftion 




4!^v 




n 



Charleston, South Carolina, a few months later. A large fleet under Admiral Parker, 
with General Clinton for military commander, was organized to take that city 
and subdue the surrounding country ; news of this plan reached South Carolina, and 
active preparations were made to resist the invasion. Troops of militia, local and 
from neighboring states, occupied all available positions, and a fort of palmetto-wood 
was erected on Sullivan's Island and manned by five hundred men under Colonel 
Moultrie. This fort was the chief defense of the city and was relied upon to with- '77^ 
stand the brunt of the attack, although it was by some considered entirely inadequate 
for the purpose. 

Early in June the British, in upwards of thirty vessels, arrived at the entrance to 
the harbor, but with characteristic delay, it was four weeks before they were ready to 
attack. Clinton's forces were rendered ineffective by being stupidly disembarked on a 
sand-bar from which they expected to cross to Sullivan's Island, but to which there was 
no practicable ford. Parker opened fire on Fort Sullivan with six ships, and after 
an engagement lasting all day, was obliged to withdraw what remained of his fleet 
and give up the attem,pt. It was a most notable victory for American courage and 
perseverance under almost overwhelming odds, and it raised Colonel Moultrie to 
a place among the greatest heroes of the war. An incident of this battle was the 
heroism of Sergeant Jasper in replanting on the bastion the colors which had been 
shot away. 

As the evacuation of Boston had practically ended the war in New England, so 
the defeat at Charleston freed the South from further molestation for some years, and 
removed the centre of strife to the Middle States, where less determined resistance 
was to be feared. Washington, realizing that the British would turn to New York as 
their logical base of operations, removed his army to that place soon after the taking 
of Boston, and made preparations to defend the city as well as his inadequate and 
poorly equipped army might be able to. Congress, which had mainly directed its 
efforts to additional attempts to secure peaceful recognition from King George, had 
utterly failed, through inability or inattention, to provide for the increase or sustenance 
of the army, and was at any time liable to disruption from the growing differences of 
delegates as to the policy to be pursued. There was, as vet, no union, and therefore 
no responsible government which could organize internal affairs and collect funds. 
This condition, coupled with the vanishing of hope of anv concession from the King, 
who had declared the colonists rebels and announced his determination to crush them, 
emphasized the need of a basis for a permanent government ; and after some hesitation 

on the part of representatives of a few states, i77t> 
it was voted, on the second of July, 1776, to 
announce to the world the principles for which 
the American people were contending. A com- 
mittee, of which Thomas Jefferson, a delegate 
from Virginia, recently arrived, was chosen 
chairman, was appointed to formulate the declara- 
tion, the writing of which was entrusted to Jef- 
ferson. The result of his labor and the delib- 
erations of the committee, was the Declaration of 
Independence, laid before Congress on the fourth 
of July and unanimously accepted. 




Ma s s a ( h u s 1 1 1 i 



^X^^tltnian 




(gi^orfli^n 




1 iiiN I'UiL-iui diKi iii^jiiiii^ i;<Kutnt:iit uttratlcU tiic 
attention of the civili/ed world, and made possible the 
union subsequently effected. It has maintained, and will 
ever hold, its position as the most revered and precious 
relic of American history ; and it is one of the evidences 
of the quality of mind and character which the early 
patriots brought to the cause of liberty. 

From Philadelphia, where the people awaited breath- 
lessly the peal of the State House bell, which should 
" Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land, to all the 
inhabitants thereof"; through New York, where the 
message was read to the troops drawn up on the Common, 
aod was boisterously celebrated bv the populace, which 
demonstrated its patriotism by tearing from the pedestal 
on Bowling Green an equestrian statue of George III, of 
gilded lead, that from glorifying the King wr.s turned 
against him in the form of rebel bullets; to Boston, 
where, in some ways it meant more than it elsewhere 
could — the acceptance bv the united colonics of the 
cause nurtured on Boston's wrongs — the countr)' hailed 
with enthusiasm this brilliant crystalization by its ablest 
representatives, in solemn congress assembled, of the sen- 
timents which for months had fired individuals every- 
where, but had lacked the official approval of the leaders. 
A large measure of this unanimity was due to the wide- 
spread appreciation of Paine's "Common-Sense," pub- 
lished the previous winter, in which Thomas Paine, an 
Englishman who had been in this countr)' but a short 
time, grasped and set forth in convincing style, the prin- 
ciples involved in the struggle with the mother country, 
and the reasons whv rebellion was just and right. Paine 
showed the people what they sought and needed ; Congress declared it an accom- 
plished fact and bestirred in its defense. 

Meanwhile the cause in the field was experiencing misfortunes and disasters cal- 
culated to weaken its popularity, and was only saved from extermination bv Wash- 
ington's ability to successively extricate his army from seemingly overwhelming 
situations. He had established himself in New York and Brooklyn with the ten 
thousand troops that represented all that was available 
— many of that number for but a short period only — of 
the army brought from Boston, and endeavored to hold 
in check the large and powerful armies under Howe and 
Clinton, the latter having reached there from his defeat 
at Charleston, supported bv powerful ships of war. 
His detachments on Long Island under Sullivan and Stir- 
ling were badly routed, and the situation there was 
strongly against him, when Washington brought over 




Statue of 
>f nptam j'Jnth.in 
I? .1 I f b \} 
09 a f 111 n m c s 



/-^^ 



.V f iv H a m p I h i rt 



Declaration of 
{•ntirprn Hence 





(^tOTjimrt 




^ii^h1 




ma Wax miUt, fthmon 



reintorcements and en- 
gaged in preparing ior- 
tiiications, as though 
intending a continu- 
ance of operations ; hut 
the next morning, Au- 
gust twen t v-ninth, 
found the place utterly 
deserted, his army hav- 
ing been ferried across 
to New York under 
cover of the night and 
abeneficentfog. Colo- 
nel Glover's Marblehcad fishermen accomplished this feat for Washington, and the 
British, who surrounded the Americans and expected an easy and decisive victory, 
were doomed to disappointment. Thev, however, knew their strength and Wash- 
ington's weakness, and assailed him on all sides of the stand taken in New York, 
driving him in a few davs to Harlem Heights. Washington's personal bravery as 
he rode among his panic-stricken men was the slender thread by which he was 
enabled to finally withdraw his troops. 

It was especially desirable at this time that some knowledge be obtained of the 
intended movements of the British, and Washington accepted the services of Captain 
Nathan Hale of Connecticut, who volunteered to visit the enemy's camp as a spy. 
He penetrated the British lines and obtained the information without discovery, but 
on his way back was recognized and arrested by a Tory relative. He was taken 
before Howe and sentenced to death, and was executed September twenty-second. 
Every benefit of humanity and religion was denied him, vet he met his death with 
high courage, and his last words, "I only regret that I have but one life to give 
for my country," have become immortal. 

In the face of his retreat, Washington sent detachments to check the advance of 
the enemy's outposts, and after sharp fighting drove them back to the main lines. 
The American position was here fairly strong, but not strong enough to warrant 
Washington in risking his army ; so on the further advance of the British, he seized 
favorable points and held them in check until he could again retreat, this time to 
White Plains, on the bank of the Bronx River. 

Once more the British under Howe thought to crush the American forces and 
end the war, and once more, after a sharp engagement, the Americans succeeded in 

escaping and establishing themselves in a stronger 
position at North Castle. Forts Washington and 
Lee, which defended the Hudson River at Harlem, 
were left garrisoned with the expectation of their 
being able to hold the position ; but the British 
having obtained, through the treachery of a deserter 
from Fort Washington, complete information as to 
the strength and arrangement of that fortification, 
it was successfully assaulted on November sixteenth. 




Co nnecticut 



€a)itafn 



1776 



1776 



H^aU 




((5t0rjtti»tt 



m<> 



'776 




aiu; rwo ^nuu^and men taken [Tis 
oners. This loss, with Gciicril 
Lcc's disobedience in withholding, 
on the other side of the Hudson, 
the large body of troops under his 
comtnand, left Washington in a 
desperate situation. His armv was 
reduced through these causes, and 
the expiration of the terms of enlist- 
ment of many of the militia, to the 
neighborhood of three thousand 
men, and continual discharges and 
desertions, with the failure of efforts 
to secure rc-enlistmcnts or fresh re- 
cruits, threatened to leave but a 
fraction of that number. Fortu- 
nately at this time General Lee's 
troops were brought in by General 
Sullivan, the former having been 
taken prisoner while at a distance 
from his army. 

The British, holding all the 
important points captured, contin- 
ued their advance to Trenton and 
occupied that place preparatory to 
marching on Philadelphia, but later 
abandoned that part of the plan. 
The fear of this disaster was intense 
in Philadelphia, and Congress con- 
sidered it necessary to adjourn to Baltimore, alter vesting the entire control ot the 
war in Washington; a compliment which would have been more appreciated had it 
brought greater opportunities instead of adding to the perplexities of that general. 
He watched the enemv from a safe distance while exerting himself strcnuouslv to 
strengthen his army, though with little success. The misfortunes which made the 
necessity most urgent operated against his efforts, and no enthusiasm could be aroused 
for an apparently failing cause. Little as the prospect offered, he realized that some- 
thing must be done, and done quicklv, or the new rear would find him almost with- 
out men. 

Bold as the plan seemed when the possibilities were considered, Washington 
made up his mind to attack Trenton, and despatched several detachments to diverse 
points to ensure the surrounding of the enemy. Christmas night was the time settled 
upon for the assault, and Washington, with twentv-four hundred men, arrived at the 
bank of the Delaware in a fierce storm of snow and sleet, to find the river swollen 
and filled with swiftlv-moving ice. To a lesser man the difficulties would have been 
insuperable, as thcv appeared to his aides, to whom the duty was intrusted of attacking 
from other points, and who failed to cross. To Washington it meant but the call 




" / 






Car|>ctitcr« ^all 
hit ii delphxa ^a. 



^ in r i* f r a n & o r 




<§jeorjji4*n 




i sc 



III IIIINMIIII I II II IIJ 



NY I 




UNITE OR DIE 

' ' ' '" "'""" "i»rM„„„.,||||„,i,.M.„»MHMriiniiiiHmMimMr 




f^mmiimw^^ 



a e n e r a I 
Plough 



1776 



for greater effort, and, 
encouraged by his ex- 
ample and guided by the 
hardy fishermen of Mar- 
blehead, the troops were 
safely, though with great 
difKculty, transported to 
the Trenton side, where 
they set out upon an ex- 
hausting march to the 
town, regardless of the 
storm and the pains of 
travel on the frozen 
ground. Colonel Rahl 
had been warned that Washington was planning an attack, but, as usual, affected to 
despise his opponent, and the twelve hundred Hessians were in the midst of a 
characteristic Christmas celebration from which all thought of the enemy was 
banished, when the foot-sore and wearied Americans burst upon them. Rahl's men, 
thoroughly panic-stricken, offered little or no resistance, and in attempting to rally 
them their commander was shot down. A few were killed and some escaped, but 
about one thousand, with all their artillery and stores, were made prisoners and taken 
in triumph to Philadelphia. 

Washington lost no time, after this inspiring victory, in following up the advantage 
gained, and returning with fresh troops, re-occupied Trenton. Howe felt heavily the 
loss of prestige and men resulting from the defeat of Christmas night, and once more 
determined to overwhelm the meagre army of Washington and terminate the harassing 
rebellion. To this end Lord Cornwallis, with seven thousand men, set out from 
Princeton, January second. Thev were met on the road by detachments of Americans '777 
sent out to retard their movement, and slowly driving the skirmishers before them, 
made their wav to Trenton. 

The main body of the American army was entrenched just outside the town, on 
the further bank of the Assanpink, and here the British prepared to attack. An at- 
tempt to cross the bridge was repulsed, and Cornwallis contented himself for that day 
with cannonading the enemy from the opposite shore, and planning to assault them on 
the following morning when reinforced. The British habit of delay at critical junc- 
tures had before given Washington opportunity to extricate his army from dangerous 
situations, and he took advantage of it on this occasion to abandon his position on the 
Assanpink and march on Princeton — where Cornwallis had left three regiments of his 
army — from whence he hoped to pass to Brunswick and capture the large quantity of 
British stores known to be there. With his usual adroitness, Washing- 
ton withdrew undetected by the army on the opposite bank, which 
regarded the brightly burning camp-fires, kindled for the purpose, as 
undoubted evidence of the continued presence of the Americans. 
Princeton was reached early on the morning of January third, and 

the British troops were encountered 
just as they were leaving to join 

P u t n a tn 's 



2! t en t n 




(&tovQi}xn 




777 







Cornwailis. A battle en- 
sued, which, though at 
times apparently in favor 
of the British — owing to 
the inability of the Ameri- 
cans, through lack of 
equipment, to meet bay- 
onet charges — resulted 
finally in a splendid vic- 
tory for VVashington, 
whose personal valor and 
encouragement strength- 
ened his men and turned 
the balance to his side. 
The British fled to Bruns- 
wick, but the dav wis so 
far spent that Washington 
deemed it unwise to at- 
tack that place, and after 
destroying the bridges be- 
tween his army and that 
of Cornwailis, withdrew to Somerset Court House, and thence to Morristown, 
where he went into winter quarters. Cornwailis, discomfited at his failure at Tren- 
ton and the defeat of his troops at Princeton, returned to Brunswick to protect his 
magazines, and suspended operations for the winter. 

The effect of these victories on the country and the outside world was to raise the 
American cause from the lowest ebb of discouragement to enthusiastic support at home 
and increased respect abroad. France, though yet unwilling to openlv favor this coun- 
try, was secretly sending supplies, and from that country and Germanv and Prussia 
came able and devoted officers to assist our cause. Recruiting became easier and re- 
'777 enlistments frequent, enabling Washington to grcatlv strengthen his armv and prepare 
for a renewal of the struggle with the coming of spring. 

Events moved slowly at this time, a condition to which the American cause in the 
field was frequently indebted, and yet the forces at work were making for results soon 
to place the struggle for independence on a basis of international recognition and 
eventual support. After declaring independence. Congress had dispatched emissaries to 
the courts of Europe, and especially to France, where the svmpathv of progressive 
leaders established the cause in substantial favor. Many of the ablest members were 
thus employed, or were called to their homes to direct the sustaining operations of the 
war, so that the representation left was appreciably inferior as 
a whole, and of little real assistance as an executive bodv. It 
was inadequate to the task of supporting the army or of adding 
materially to its numbers, and its financial system, lacking 
hassi and credit, was a failure from the start. To the army 
it commissioned officers in many cases incompetent ; and 
through a misunderstanding of tacts, or unduly influenced by 



Rh»tle Itland 



P r f n r r 1 n 





(gieorjgi^^n 








17 






interested parties, it superseded competent generals at critical times and placed interior 
men in command. Lacking official support, the Revolution was sustained by 
popular contribution through the state leaders, the work of Robert Morris, ot Phila- 
delphia, being especially memorable, and of inestimable service to Washington in 
his efforts to hold together and strengthen his army. 

Connecticut bore a generous share in equipping and sustaining the troops, and at 
this time suffered locally from the proximity of the British quartered at New York. 
On April twenty-sixth, 1 777, Governor Tryon of New York, with two thousand 
British and Tories, attacked and burned Danbury, and destroyed a large quantity of 
American stores. On the following day the militia, under Generals Wooster, Arnold, 
and Silliman, forced Tryon to the coast after an engagement at Ridgefield, and the 
British embarked under heavy fire. General Wooster, a veteran of seventy years, 
was mortally wounded. A month later the Americans under Colonel Meigs retal- 
iated by crossing from Connecticut to Sag Harbor, on Long Island, where they 
burned twelve British vessels and destroyed stores, bringing back ninety prisoners with- 
out the loss of a man. 

Another incident illustrative of the daring and adroitness of the American soldiers 
was the capture of General Prescott, commander of the British forces in the neighbor- 
hood of Rhode Island, whose tyranny had excited the indignation of the people. On 
the night of July tenth. Lieutenant Barton of Providence, with forty men, stealthily 
approached Prescott's headquarters by water, and, overpowering the sentinel, 
secured Prescott, who was in bed, and escaped before the alarm spread to the troops. 



mi 



ViViiti^ Cn ^onntctftwt 




(r>corrOft>tn 




'777 




Congress recog- 
nized this act by 
promoting Barton 
to the ranlc of colo- 
nel and presenting 
him a sword. 

Spring brought 
a renewal of activ- 
ity in the armies 
facing each other in 
the South, and in 
the North it saw 
the development of 
a plan to effect the 

^i _'?.--'^ '"■"'■ ^.i-.*-^'"!^.' , 5k.v «* >cparation of New 

. -^ _. - « ^VWCJdtOngS.^, England from the 

■^!m=^'^" — '■ »►. ^ c- J. < r-rr- other States. This 

.^' |3ani>teeubUr5 ^t*^^^^ had long been rec 

ognized as an im- 
pending possibility, and the division of the North under General Schuvler, though 
weak in numbers, was so placed as to offer the utmost resistance to the anticipated move- 
ment. Lake Champlain, the natural path of such invasion, had, the previous sum- 
mer, been the scene of a strenuous', if not mighty, struggle with the same object, when 
'776 Benedict Arnold had, by dint of extraordinary effort, created a flotilla, cffectivelv armed 
and manned, with which he vigorously contested Sir Guv Carleton's ascent of the 
lake ; and, while ultimately forced to retreat, so delayed and crippled the enemv that 
the British expedition was fruitless for that season, so far as the main object was con- 
cerned. The ground thus gained was held, and served Sir John Burgovne, the suc- 
cessor of Carlcton, to launch with great pomp in June, 1777, an armv of eight 
thousand men, including Indians — now for the first time emploved — which main- 
tained its triumphant progress only so long as the waters of the lake formed the line 
of passage. They erected fortifications on Mt. Defiance, near Ticondcroga, from 
which commanding position they were able to throw a destructive fire into the fort ; 
and General St. Clair, who occupied the post with somewhat less than three thou- 
sand ill-armed troops, abandoned it on the night of Jul v fifth, and undertook to join 
Schuyler at Fort Edward. The British started after him and several times engaged 
his rear guard, but at the end of a week the .Americans succeeded in reaching 
/777 Schuyler, though with the loss of some men and a considerable amount of baggage, 
captured by the British at Skenesboro. At this point the struggle with natural con- 
ditions began, which offered, difficult as it was, the only means bv which Burgoyne 
could pass to Albany, where he hoped to meet forces under Howe, which were to 
come up the Hudson and thus dominate the line from Canada to Long Island. 
Schuyler, realizing the overwhelming force of the invading armv, fell back in slow 
retreat, destroying the only road as he passed, burning bridges and clogging streams, 
besides devastating the country of everything that could be utilized to sustain an army. 
Under these circumstances Burgoyne's progress, with all the facilities of a thoroughly 
equipped army, was onlv about one mile a day, and the Americans were enabled to 



li u V 1> " f * ?j V D r B ( t f n 




(Seorfli^n 




keep well out of reach until reinforcements and a favorable situation should enable 
them to make a stand. 

A strong detachment ot the invaders, under St. Leger, had been sent to the west- 
ward to take Fort Stanwix, held by General Ganesvoort. They met with determined 
resistance, and vigorous fighting took place at the fort, and at Oriskanev, where '777 
General Herkimer, who had come to the relief of Ganesvoort with a large following 
of frontiersmen, fell into an ambush of the enemy. The brave general was mortally 
wounded early in the engagement, but with great fortitude continued to direct the 
battle and succeeded in routing the British, who, however, continued to maintain the 
siege. After some weeks ineffectually spent, they were frightened into a precipitate 
retreat by news of the approach of Arnold with reinforcements, and made their way 
to Canada, minus everything that tended to impede flight. 

Burgoyne, experiencing to the full the difficulties imposed by Schuyler, felt the 
need of provisions, and detached a party of six hundred, under Colonel Baum, to raid 
the country in what is now Vermont, and capture stores held at Bennington. This 
party was met near Bennington by the farmers, who had hastily gathered under 
General Stark, and defeated with the loss of their baggage and artillery. Another 
party of equal numbers which had been sent out a few days afterward to reinforce 
the first, came up a few hours later and suffered like defeat. More than half the 
British were taken prisoners, and upwards of two hundred killed, leaving but a third 
to make its way back to the main army. These misfortunes were rapidlv bringing 
Burgoyne to a realization of the doubtfulness of final success, which success would 
have appeared still more remote could he have known, as he did later, that Howe's 
orders had been so delayed that no help could reach him from that quarter in season 
to avail. 

The American victories at Oriskaney and Bennington spread confidence through- 
out the country, and troops gathered to the support of the northern army, which 
Congress, with great injustice to Schuyler, now placed under the command of 
General Horatio Gates, a soldier much inferior to the former in ability and attain- 
ments. Gates reaped the benefit of all the hard work done by Schuyler, and entered 
upon his command under most favorable conditions. Burgovne, pressed for supplies 
and threatened in his rear by General Lincoln — who with two thousand troops was 
even then retaking Ticonderoga — was on the downward slope of effectiveness, while 
the American army was constantly receiving reinforcements, — among which were 
Morgan's Virginia riflemen sent by Washington, — and with Arnold returned from 
Fort Stanwix, was daily gaining strength and courage, and numbered about three 
thousand men to thirty-five hundred of the British. Gates, after a delay of several '777 

weeks, established himself at Bemis Heights, 
on the west bank of the Hudson, and awaited 
the enemy. They arrived on September nine- 
teenth, and on the following day attacked the 
Americans in their full strength. Gates proved 
utterly inefficient, watching the battle from the 
rear without taking part in it, and the conduct 
ot the fight devolved upon the regimental com- 
manders, among whom Arnold was the dom- 
inant figure. The battle continued until dark- 




Nexv York 



19 rn n C n 1 n 




(Storjsi^n 




'77y 





©Id l>cuntc l^ousc 



•.lull the AiiK-ri- 
i-jiij drew off to their in- 
ircnchmcnts, leaving the 
British in possession of 
their ground, but suffer- 
ing from a severe repulse, 
their loss being double 
that of the Continentals. 
This was the begin- 
ning of the end with Bur- 
goyne. On October 
seventh he made another 
attempt to break the 
American lines, taking 
fifteen hundred of his best 
troops; but his columns 
were stubbornly met, and 
finally, with Morgan, Dearborn, and Arnold leading, the Americans routed the 
British and drove them to their intrenched camp, where the fighting was continued 
until stopped by darkness. Arnold was on the field without authority, he having 
been deprived of his command by Gates, but was unable to restrain his ardor, and 
placed himself at the head ot his old division, which he inspired to brilliant service ; 
he was badly wounded in the later attack. 

The British were now in a desperate situation; beaten and hopeless of reinforce- 
ment they sought to retreat through Saratoga, but found themselves surrounded by 
the gathering Americans, and a few days later Burgoyne gave up the attempt and 
opened negotiations for surrender. The document was signed October sixteenth, 
and by it an army of nearly si.\' thousand, with all equipments, was turned over to 
Gates, and the long-cherished plan to control the line from Canada to the mouth of 
the Hudson came finally to naught. Clinton, in pursuance of belated orders, had 
started to Burgoyne's assistance, but his enthusiasm waned after capturing Forts Mont- 
gomery and Clinton, and contenting himself with sending a detachment to raid King- 
ston, which was burned October thirteenth, he returned to New York, leaving the 
North, when rid ot Burgoyne, in undisputed possession of the Americans. News of 
this triumph was of inestimable help to the American cause in Europe, and created a 
prestige that made possible the French Alliance. 

Washington, though not active in this northern campaign, was none the less a 
factor in its success, as his watchfulness and employment of Howe and his armv in 
'777 the Middle South was largely for the purpose of maintaining the separation of the 
British forces, which he knew to be essential to Ameri- 
can victory on the Hudson. While Burgovne was 
embarking, with so much c'clat, his ill-fated expedition, 
Washington, who had removed from his winter 
quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, to Middlebrook, 
was endeavoring to check Howe's advance without 
hazarding his small army in open battle. Howe, 
tiring ot these tactics, returned to New York, where. 



Nt 



S a r a t a a 





(gieorjBi^n 




f^% 




■ . ^v'\i;,V-<'^ -^-■^^"■'^''^J. jr^^SQF->J 

"' -£i;iv;-fi.u' ,---4 "'■'■ 

(^onnmcnt to (Audrey capture 
"ol «^ rr ^ t run ^, ^. 

on ]ulv twenty-third, he embarked eighteen thousand men with a view of reaching 
Philadelphia by water. Washington discovered his motive and immediately marched 
his troops to that place, hoping to reassure the people before engaging the enemy. 
His army in point of effectiveness numbered about ten thousand, though in actual 
numbers several thousand more, and among his officers was the Marquis de Lafayette, 
a young French nobleman, who, filled with svmpathy and enthusiasm for the cause 
of the colonies, had, in spite of the disapproval of his king, reached this country with '777 
Baron de Kalb, a German veteran, and was by Congress commissioned Major- 
General. Lafayette endeared himself to Washington and to the army, and became, 
next to Washington, one of the most prominent figures in the war. 

Howe, finding the Delaware fortified against him, entered Chesapeake Bay and 
landed his army at Elkton, Maryland, about fifty miles from Philadelphia. From 
this point he marched toward the city, reaching Chad's Ford, on the Brandywine — 
where the Americans were encamped — September eleventh. The resulting battle 
was disastrous to the patriots, and although well planned and bravely fought, ended 
at night in their retreat to Chester, and later to the neighborhood of Philadelphia. 
Count Pulaski, a Polish volunteer, distinguished himself in this action and was sub- 
sequentlv commissioned Brigadier General by Congress, in recognition of his gal- 
lantry. 

Washington, though defeated, still hoped to keep the British from Philadelphia, 
and prepared to engage them again near Goshen, but was prevented by a severe 
storm, and was then forced to withdraw to Reading to protect his stores, which were 
threatened by the enemy. He left General Wayne with fifteen hundred men to 
check the advance on Philadelphia, but the latter was surprised by a midnight attack 
and driven back with considerable loss, leaving the city open to the invaders, who 



^i^fUTreDil^fa 




(feieorjoixan 




'§\hcvX\\ 




T^clX 




ciitorcJ September iwciuv-sixth. 
Fearing this result. Congress had 
removed, .some da\ > before, to Lan- 
caster, from which a few davs later 
'777 ^'••^'■^WlfP? I ' ■' moved to York, where it remained 

during the British occupancy of the 
capital. 

The danger to Reading having 
passed, Washington resolved on an- 
other attack, and with two thousand 
five hundred reinforcements he en- 
gaged the British troops stationed at 
Gcrmantown, near Philadelphia; 
but through the failure of militia on 
which he relied, the effort was de- 
feated after a severe struggle, in 
which the American loss was heavy. 
Forts Mifflin and Mercer, the for- 
mer on Mud Island, in the Dela- 
ware, and the latter at Red Bank, 
New Jersey, were still held by the 
Americans, who had established 
them to protect Philadelphia from 
naval attack. These the British as- 
saulted with the aid ot the Hect from Chesapeake Bay, and after a determined 
but hopeless resistance the Americans were forced to evacuate, November eighteenth, 
leaving the harbor unobstructed for the passage of British ships. To close a season 
disastrous in its immediate results, Washington, earlv in December, went into win- 
ter quarters at Valley Forge, on the Schuylkill, and struggled to maintain the organ- 
ization of his army under conditions which would have been insurmountable to 
another general, or with an armv striving for a lesser end. 

The cause of independence experienced its darkest days in that memorable camp. 
Thousands of men were unable to leave the rude huts they had built for shelter, for 
lack of clothing to cover them; they were reduced to the barest extremity for food, 
and vet their patriotism and faith in their commander triumphed over these miseries 
and sustained them until spring, when a turn of fortune brought once more the neces- 
saries of life and comfortable equipment. During the long winter, Washington 
suffered not only the anguish of sympathy for his stars-ing troops, but from the ma- 
chinations of envious and disgruntled subordinates, and the criticism of some ot the 
leaders in Congress. It was hoped, by a considerable faction, to supersede Wash- 
ington by Gates — the latter's victory over Bur- 
goyne being contrasted with Washington's cam- 
paign about Philadelphia — and sufficient support 
was obtained to secure control of the Board of 
War, which, with Gates at the head, was a 
source of annovancc and affront to Washington, 
while it utterly failed in its duties of providing tor 
the armv. 

D fl aw a r t 

TaUrp iFoiDt 





(f^e0roi^n 




While these conditions existed at the seat ot war, forces were elsewhere working 
for speedy and permanent improvement. The King o(" France, overborne by his 
ministers, had signed early in February a treaty ot alliance and commerce, acknowl- 
edging the independence of the American Colonies. This meant money and ships 
and ready supplies, besides establishing the United States on a recognized footing at 
the capitals of Europe. The victory at Saratoga, which had encouraged France to 
this action, had startled England into a belated concession of privileges, which a peace 
commission was sent over to propose; but the time for such measures was past and 
they were rejected by Congress, which declared that no proposals would be enter- 
tained except on a basis of complete independence and the withdrawal of British 
troops. This, of course, was not contemplated, and the commission ingloriouslv re- 
turned. The action ot France was regarded by England as a declaration ot war, and 
preparations were made for strengthening the situation of the troops in America. 
General Howe, who, it was realized, had done nothing more than seize upon com- 
fortable winter quarters for his army, was recalled and superseded by General 
Clinton. Philadelphia being of no military value to the British without a line of 
communication with the main army at New York, it was decided to abandon it ere 
the French fleet could come to the assistance of Washington's army and force the 
evacuation. In pursuance of these orders Clinton, who had assumed command the 
latter part of May, so hastened preparations that on June eighteenth he left the city 
and started his army across New jersey. 

Washington, whose patience and endurance the winter had so severely tried, was 
now well equipped, thanks to the efforts ot Greene, who in March, as quartermaster- 
general, succeeded the incompetent Board of War ; the spring levies had filled his 
ranks, and best of all, his army, which had been drilled all winter by Baron Steuben 
— a distinguished Prussian officer — was now for the first time in perfect training. 
Under such gratifying conditions it is not strange that Washington wished to inter- 
cept Clinton and 

|F oc t fxtX 



match his strength 
against the British ; 
but a council of his 
officers by their dis- 
approval so delayed 
him, that, though 
he finally overruled 
their decision, Clin- 
ton was then so far 
advanced that to 
overtake him re- 
quired extraordin- 
ary effort, and 
forced the troops to 
a fatiguing march, 
which at the last 
became so hurried 
that many threw 
away their knap- 




'77S 



r^ '77^ 



8rj|e iFveucti ^lliuntt 



24 




(gtoruian 





-.icks in llicir tic-ire to rcai i. ' ■ iirm.. 
The British were advised ot Washing- 
ton's approach, and though numbering 
seventeen thousand, were headed for the 
coast by the mos' direct route, their 
march fast becoming flight under the 

177^ ' ^^^ ^'^»»iil \ vexations of climate and the harassing 

attacks of the New Jersey militia. On 
the twenty-sixth of June they encamped 
at Monmouth Court House with Wash- 
ington but a icw miles behind, and a de- 
tachment under Lee, which had been sent 
in advance, within striking distance. The 
latter, Washington ordered to attack as 
soon as the enemv should resume the 
march in the morning, promising sup- 
port as soon as he could come up. Lee, 
an Englishman who had been a source 
of trouble to Washington all through the 
war, was impressed with Clinton's in- 
vincibility, and fearing to engage him, 
contented himself with unimportant man- 
ceuvcrs, until Clinton, seeing his oppor- 
tunity, charged, and had started the 
Americans in retreat when Washington, 
whom the incredible news found strain- 
ing every nerve to reach the field of battle, 
galloped on the scene, and overcome with 
rage, demanded of Lee an explanation of 
his course. This Lee was unable to 
give, and ordering him to the rear, where 
the next day he was court-martialed and 
suspended from his command, Washington rallied the troops, that had failed wholly from 
the lack of efficient ordering, and with the arrival of the main army recovered the 
ground and drove the British in retreat. Under the cover of the night the retreat was 
kept up, and Clinton succeeded in reaching the coast and embarking before the Ameri- 
'77* cans could again come up with him. His army was reduced by two thousand, in the 
march and battle, and had it not been for the incompetence of Lcc, would have been 
utterly destroyed. As it was, he was beaten, and the campaign which Washington had 
lost at Brandy wine and Germantown, was redeemed at Monmouth. An incident of this 
battle was the bravery of Mollv Pitcher, the wife of an American artilleryman. 
She was bringing water to her husband when she saw him fall, and heard an order for 
withdrawing his gun ; determined that it should not be silenced, she took his place 
and served the gun throughout the fight. In recognition of her patriotism Washington 
appointed her a sergeant in the armv, where she became widely known and popular. 
During the summer of 1778 the war made little progress, so far as the main 
armies were concerned. The British were now confined to New York, with an out- 






•:^ c f 1 11 


n S 8 VfO u s c 


Phil 


n D c 1 p li I .1 . 


m li f r c 


f I r s r K. Ml c r : 


f .1 11 f I 


.1 rj Mi A 8 111 A\i t 



JH n m tt 1 4 




|iK^i\V'iy't5*tt 




fhUadelpWa 



t 




post at Newport, Rhode Island, and evinced little inclination tor aggressive measures. 
Early in July the French fleet, under Count d'Estaing, appeared off Sandy Hook, but 
owing to their greater draught were unable to approach the British fleet. In lieu of 
this, a plan was arranged tor destroying, in conjunction with a land force, the British 
garrison and ships at Newport. D'Estaing arrived therewith his fleet August eighth, 
and his presence with the forces under Sullivan, Greene, and Lafayette caused 
the British to destroy their men-of-war and other vessels in the harbor. While 
preparations for the attack were being made, a British squadron appeared, and the 
French went outride to engage it, but a very severe storm arose and scattered the 
fleets, injuring the vessels so that the British were forced to return to New York, and 
the French went to Boston, to refit. Upon this the land forces, which also suffered 
from the storm, were obliged to withdraw without accomplishing their purpose, 
though a sharp engagement took place between four thousand reinforcements, which 
Clinton had brought from New York, and a division under Green, in which the 
British were repulsed. Clinton occupied himself in ravaging the surrounding countrv 
and burning shipping at New Bedford, returning to New York soon afterward and 
subsequentlv abandoning Newport. 

One of the particularly disturbing features of the summer were the Indian 
raids, made at the instigation of British agents and participated in by many Tories. 
Wyoming, Pennsvlvania, and Cherrv V'allev, New York, suffered frightfully in 
this way, hundreds of men, women, and children falling victims to the tomahawk, 
while in manv instances the torture was much more severe. Further west the British 
had seized old French trading posts and garrisoned them with regulars and Indians, to 
ensure the unlimited extension of British territory when the victory should be won. 
They also sought to uproot the settlement in what is now Kentucky, but were 
tenaciously resisted by the hardy pioneers under the lead of Boone, Logan, 

Kenton, and other intrepid woodsmen. 

Among these was one who realized the 
value of the outposts that the British had 
seized, and determined that the vast terri- 
tory dominated bv them should be held by 
•Americans. Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and 
Cahokia, in the Illinois country, were the 




Pennsylvania 



25 



,77s 



KtUiflott 




(5ie0rj9i»n 





(T tj r U) i« a n s i u C r r m a n t o Uj n 4) a . 

coveted settlements, and George Rogers Clark, a native of \'irginia, the far-seeing 
frontiersman who set out to take them with less than two hundred men, raised bv his 
personal efforts under the authority of Governor Patrick Hcnrv of Virginia. Over- 
coming all obstacles, they reached Kaskaskia on the evening of Julv fourth, and Clark 
by skillful maneuvers took the garrison completely by surprise, and overpowering the 
guards, compelled the surrender of forces two or three times greater in number than 
-;^ihis own. \'incennes and Cahokia followed with little trouble, but the difficulty was 
to hold the posts with his small following, of which many of the men were anxious 
to return to their homes. At this time the British arrived with a strong force and 
retook V'incennes, but owing to the lateness of the season hesitated about attacking 
Kaskaskia, held by Clark with the main body of his command. Neither the season 
nor the condition of the country had any terrors tor Clark, and getting together one 
hundred and seventy men who could be depended upon, thev started tor Vincennes 
early in February, undertaking fearlessly a journey of over two hundred miles, in which 
they experienced hardships of every kind, including hunger, and a march through miles 
of icy water, waist high, but, in spite of these, arrived at their destination on the 
twenty-second of the month, and after a short fight forced the fort to again surrender. 

The importance of this exploit was far-reaching, as it not only secured to the 
United States vast territory in the West, but it broke, from that time, the alliance 
with the Indians, which the British had created with difficulty, and upon which they 
largely depended. 

The British, from their only stronghold. New York, kept up their devastating 
raids on the surrounding country, descending early in September on Buzzards Bav, 
where they destroyed shipping and privateers to the number of seventy sail, continu- 



^afov <flavtt*« l^vprHftfon 





ing through New Bedford and Fairhaven the pillage and destruction, and finally re- 
turning to New York with a large number of cattle and sheep captured at Martha's 
Vineyard. On the thirtieth of the same month they sailed to Little Egg Harbor, 
New Jersey, where they captured a considerable quantity of American stores. 

This employment of his army, while perhaps a degree more creditable than ab- 
solute inaction, would never win for Clinton the control of America; and having 
tried and failed in successive attempts to hold the Northern and Middle States, the 
British turned again to the South, as offering the only remaining opportunitv for lasting 
victory. Driven out ot Boston, defeated and destroyed on the Hudson, balked at 
Philadelphia, and menaced at New York, they with some reasonableness hoped, by 
gaining a foothold in a thinly populated country, where loyalism was undoubtedly 
stronger, to extend operations on a permanent basis until they could unite with the 
Northern forces. The South, unmolested since Clinton and Parker's inglorious at- 
tack on Charleston, was unprepared for resistance and was divided by party differ- 
ences that under the strain of war developed into serious civil conflict. 

To this promising field, then, Clinton turned his attention, with immediate results 
that seemed to fully justify his deductions, and warranted confidence in the success of 
his ultimate plan. A partially successful raid under General Provost came out of 
Florida and pillaged the coast towns of Georgia, but the first important move was 
against Savannah. On the twenty-ninth of December, Colonel Campbell landed 
with an army of three thousand and attacked the city, which was defended by Gen- 
eral Robert Howe with less than a thousand men, and those without experience in 
action. The British were easily victorious, and completely scattered the opposing 
force, taking some five hundred prisoners and capturing valuable stores. Following 
this. Provost returned and captured Sunbury, which had repulsed his first raid, and 
Campbell with a division of his troops advanced successfully on Augusta. Thus 
Georgia, the last to renounce the royal authority, was the first to again feel its yoke, 
the British being now in virtual possession of the State. 

General Benjamin Lincoln was sent by Congress to command the Southern de- 
partment, but met with little success. He succeeded in raising a small army, but 
attempting prematurely to recover Augusta and Savannah, his force was seriously re- 
duced without the attainment of his object, and he was obliged to retire to the hills 



21 



1778 



m>) 







SH l| 1 1 1 jK? a U 



aunt ^vnutrtl eo. JWatr^lirnTr 



SDie WB.vix in t1)e ^outfj 




(f^toramn 




Willi Init ;i iiaiultiii ni men, R"a\ iiig tnc Hrni^ii in luii j^u^^c-^^i'iii ol (jcur^'ia. '1 lie 
dircit results of his campaign were the gallant repulse of the British at Fort Royal by 
General Moultrie, the defeat and dispersal at Kettle Creek of a band of seven hun- 
dred Tories under Colonel Boyd, who was shot in the engagement, and the prescr- 
'779 vation of Charleston, which Provost had set out to attack, but from which he was 
compelled by Lincoln's advance to withdraw. 

Encouraged by their progress in the South, the British resumed with greater 
boldness their periodic raids in the North. Under Sir George Collier and General 




ml ^\^^^^^'■~'-''^7)i£^'^L^' ■ 



;-_• -^iVv-ir^-V^^ 



^ r 11 I tr iil a u !!$ i n ^J ij 1 1 a ^ r 1 1) ij i a 

Matthews they entered Hampton Roads, May ninth, ravaging Norfolk and Ports- 
mouth, and then sailed for New York, where they assisted Clinton in capturing the 
'77'? unfinished fortifications at Stony Point, by which the Americans had hoped to control 
King's Ferry. An expedition had been sent against West Greenwich, Connecticut, 
the previous March, which is memorable chieflv on account of General Putnam's 
bold escape from what seemed certain capture. He had rallied a companv to oppose 
the British, who were on their way to destrov the salt-works at Horse Neck, but 
was unable to offer effective resistance to the fifteen hundred invaders, and his men 
were soon dispersed. Putnam sought to reach Stamford, but was pursued by the 
British, who were fast gaining on him, when he turned his horse over the edge of a 
steep, rocky bluffs and rode safely to the bottom, leaving his astonished pursuers 



(Ttrnrral ^Dtttnam's lUXit 





daunted and baffled at the top. An- 
other expedition, under Governor 

Tryon, left New Yoric for Connecticut -i^^SP^^^ ai!#>.t '^''^M^' -. '^T^ 

early in July, and sailing along the coast 
plundered New Haven, East Haven, 
Fairfield and Norwalk, which latter 
place was also burned. 

These measures were met by the 
Americans with movements against 
Stony Point and Verplank's Point, and 
later against the British garrison at 
Paulus Hook. These were not wholly 
retaliatory, as Washington feared from 
the capture of Stony Point the exten- 
sion of British occupation through a 
series of such posts, which would ac- 
complish all that was striven for in Bur- 
goyne's campaign, and cut off his army 
and the Southern states from the recruits 
and supplies so generously furnished by 
New England. He therefore deter- 
mined to retake the fort at once, and 
entrusted the work to General Wayne, 
one of his most intrepid aids. General 
Wayne with a i^w hundred men reached 
the precipitous slopes in the rear of the 
tort on the evening of July sixteenth, 
and in a dashing assault, upon which the 
heavy fire ot the garrison made no im- 
pression, they mounted the breast-works and compelled a speedy surrender. Nearly 
five hundred prisoners were taken, and guns and munitions of great value captured. 
Alter training the guns of the fort on Verplank's Point, opposite, and compelling 
its evacuation, the Americans leveled the works and returned to the main army. 
Their achievement is looked upon as one of the most brilliant of the war. 

Paulus Hook, now the site of a part ot Jersey City, was one of the strongest 
natural positions held by the British; nearly surrounded by water, it was approach- ijjg 
able only by the post road, of which it originally formed the terminus and landing 
place of the ferry from New York. Major Harry Lee undertook the capture, and 

surprised it early on the morning of August nine- 
teenth. The British had little time for resistance 
betore they were overpowered by the attacking 
party, which secured upwards of one hundred 
and fitty prisoners — a number greater than that 
of the Americans — and quickly withdrew, lest 
the alarm spread to the main bodv of the enemy 
and retreat be cut off. 

Another undertaking, though carefully planned 




SDoortoap l^artDooD 
ip u c 511 n n a p I i jtf 




Ma r y Ian d 



Stonj) |)ofnt 



30 



m9 



'779 




%tortix^n 





•iii(j tuioj uut ii great 
expense, met with dis- 



Wi*.v 



, ^/./.l-.'j-if K-.'-^ '^ 






oiint ^ev*non 



aster and utterly failed. 
This was the expedition 
against the British post 
at Castinc, near the 
mouth of the Penobscot 
River, organized in 
Massachusetts, in which 
thirty-seven vessels were 
engaged, and had en- 
tered the river, when, 
on August thirteenth, 
they were hemmed in 
by a British fleet of su- 
perior force which sud- 
denly appeared. The Americans, rather than sec their ships fall into the hands of the 
British, beached and burned them, making their way back to Boston overland. 

The American navy, from the poverty of national resources an inconsiderable 
power heretofore, received at this time a memorable accession in the fleet under John 
Paul Jones, fitted out at L'Oricnt, France, bv the .American and French govern- 
ments. Jones, by birth a Scotchman, had already shown high ability in the ser\'ice 
of .America, and when, after many tedious disappointments, he found himself in 
command of an effective if not powerful fleet, he lost no time in making his presence 
felt among the shipping of Great Britain. He intercepted and captured many 
merchant vessels, in some cases boldly entering harbors to destroy them, and spread 
terror of his name throughout the British Isles. These exploits, while of importance 
in a scheme of warfare, were far from sufficient to the aggressive character of Jones, 
and he eagerly sought an encounter with armed vessels, though the conditions might 
apparently be against him. Such an opportunity came to him ofl^ Flamborough Head, 
September twenty-third, when he overtook two British ships of war, the Scrapis and 
Countess of Scarborough, convoying a large fleet of merchantmen. Jones com- 
manded the Bonhomme Richard, his flagship, and had with him but two other 
vessels of his squadron, the Alliance and Pallas, the others having been lost sight 
of in a gale. The British ships were greatly superior in size and armament, the 
Scrapis being the larger, and a much newer and stouter vessel than the Bonhomme 
Richard, with which she engaged. The Countess of Scarborough soon struck to her 
opponents, the .Alliance and Pallas, and the three remained in a group apart, leaving 
the two larger vessels to struggle for mastery. The 
battle that ensued is renowned in history as an example 
of the triumph of personal invincibility in the face of 
apparent ruin. 

The Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis fought at 
close range until both were badly battered and pierced, 
and then, grappled together, the guns of each touching 
the other's side, they continued their tearful work of car- 
nage and destruction. On several occasions the Richard 



CT in 111 d r r 

:?) 1)11 x^awX .9onr0 



U' a I hi Hgl$ r. 
Cta t $/ Ar m t 





y^vorjQix^tn 





'779 



was reported to be 
sinking, but by ex- 
traordinary effort 
was kept afloat, 
and at last Pear- 
son, the captain 
of the Serapis, 
yielded to his an- 
tagonist at a mo- 
ment when, as far 
as material evi- 
dence was credi- 
ble, the vie tor V 
might well have 
been his own. 

The Alliance, j;>. t, a^i^\ r ' * - 

which should have • ■ 

helped the Rich- •« * «^ * * '* ,. ^ I „ - 

ard, remained 

aloof during the greater part of the engagement, and when at last she came up, 
nearlv ruined Jones's chance by firing broadsides which swept the deck of the Richard. 
This action was excused on the ground of mistaken identitv, but Landais' jealousy 
of Jones and his restiveness under the latter's superior authority, give color to a pre- 
sumption of traitorous intent, and he was soon afterwards dismissed from the navy. 
The prizes were taken to Holland, and Jones, after a short stav in Paris, where his 
achievement was enthusiastically honored, returned to America, and received the 
thanks of Congress for his eminent services. 

While Jones was receiving his vessels from France, the French fleet under D'Es- 
taing, which had been cruising in West Indian waters, suddenly returned to the 
coast and captured four British men-of-war at Savannah. The French commander 
resolved to follow up this victory by recovering the town, and sought the help of the 
militia in the undertaking. Several weeks elapsed before the South Carolinians with 
Lincoln, who came to their aid, could complete an effective organization, and in this 
time the British had received reinforcements and erected formidable defences. D'Es- 
taing, chafing under the delay, demanded an immediate attack, and on October ninth, 
the allies gallantly assaulted the works and succeeded in planting the flags of America 
and France on the ramparts, hut thev could not maintain their position, and finally 
were repulsed with great loss. The brave Pulaski was killed in this action, as was 
Sergeant Jasper, the hero of Fort Moultrie ; and Count d'Estaing, who led his troops 
in person, was severely wounded. The French fleet put to sea, and Lincoln, with 
about two thousand men, withdrew to Charleston, where the people, desirous of pro- 
tection, urged them to remain. 

The British, encouraged by their victory, appeared off the coast of Georgia early 
in 1780 with a fleet under Admiral Arbuthnot, bringing Clinton and eight thousand-'?*" 
men, who were placed in commanding positions about Charleston, where they were 
joined by Cornwallis with troops to the number of three thousand. General 
Lincoln, who had remained in the citv, had been reinforced by a considerable body 



Siitoannaf) 



32 




(Seorfli^n 





f^)&im 



ir I 7i» It s r 
i« « n t T t V n o 



Oi V iTjiihia ^t'crriil^, i'ui ilia i'-»rt.C> C'iUiki 

offer no effective resistance to an armv 

numbering four to his one. Aided by 

/7S0 ^'>t'i Vt^ fr''^ .'l^SPr'/?-' /^ •, the fleet, which ran Fort Moultrie 

without difficulty, the British instituted 
an aggressive siege which resulted in the 
capitulation of the city on May twelfth ; 
General Lincoln and all his men were 
taken prisoners. 

With the loss of the last remnant of 
Lincoln's army, organized defense was 
obliterated in the South. The British 
spread over and devastated South Caro- 
lina as they did before in Georgia, 
plundering all not avowedly loval, and 
committing outrages calculated to embit- 
ter the patriots and strengthen them in 
their later resistance. 

A detachment of two thousand men 
under DcKalb had been sent South to 
augment the forces there, and this was 
now utilized as a nucleus of a new armv. 
11 As many more were soon added bv 
enlistment and the accession of isolated 
bands, and Gates, in whom Congress had great confidence, based on a misconception 
of his part in the capture of Burgoyne, was sent, against the judgment of Washington, 
to take command. Under conservative leadership this army would have grown and 
developed into an efl'ective force, but without waiting for these processes, and appar- 
entlv without consideration of its weakness. Gates led it to Camden, then an import- 
ant center for the British. The despair resulting from the loss of Savannah and 
Charleston had been broken by minor though brilliant successes at Fishing Creek and 
Hanging Rock, and the patriots rallying under Marion, Sumter, and Pickens were 
harassing the British with a partisan warfare destructive of their sense of security, 
'7*" though lacking in effective organization. These leaders joined forces with Gates ; 
but thev added nothing to the strength of the attack on Camden, as both Marion 
and Sumter were detached for special operations, the latter taking four hundred of 
the best troops in addition to his own. 

The British under Lord Rawdon, knowing of Gates' advance, set out to intercept 
and surprise him, and on August si.\tcenth, the armies came suddenly together, neither 
being aware of the pro.\imity of the other. A battle 
was immcdiatelv ordered, and a line ot militia, never 
before under fire, was marched in the first charge 
against the perfectly drilled regulars of the British. 
The natural result was, that the .Americans, frightened 
bv the solid fire of the cnemv, broke and fled, leaving 
to DcKalb and his Continentals the whole burden of 
resistance. The latter fought with remarkable cour- 



(r;rnrval Catrs 
in 1 1) r S u 1 1^ 



yirg, 




{ 




/iSi^rt-rnrtittt 





©Itr Sntrantt 

JW It n t T t r n n 



age, but they were hope- 
lessly outnumbered, and, 
after losing eight hundred 

men, including DeKalb, -■■ ■■I'i^'^'ir^^>&^£''i^..^ -^r'J^^^/f^^'iW^^ 'y'fo 

were obliged to retreat 
and save themselves as 
best they could. Sum- 
ter's detachment, which 
had captured the British 
wagon train, was over- 
taken by Tarleton and 
routed with the loss of half 
its men, killed or captured. 
The re-formed southern 
armv, barely started in its 
mission, was thus effec- 
tually scattered, and once 
more the British were free 
to extend their lines and 
prosecute their plan of 
northward conquest. 

This immunity was of short duration, however, the rigorous measures adopted by 
Cornwallis quickly bearing fruit in an uprising fatal to British supremacy. Wishing 
to free himself from the annoyance ot local attacks, Cornwallis sent a division under 
Colonel Ferguson to range the western borders of the Carolinas and intimidate the 
inhabitants. The threats of the invaders roused the mountaineers, who had hitherto 
contented themselves with repressing Indian aggression, and gathering under favorite 
leaders, they assembled on the Watuga, late in September, to the number of nearly 
twelve hundred. They chose Colonel Campbell — leader of the Virginians — chief 
commander, and under his direction were more closely united and instructed in 
methods of attack. They were later joined bv upwards of three hundred from North 
Carolina, and started to crush the detachment under Ferguson. The British com- 
mander had word of their coming, and undertook to elude them ; but being unsuc- 
cessful in this, took up a strong position on Kings' Mountain and awaited the con- 
flict. To shorten the pursuit the backwoodsmen had divided their force, the pick of 
men and horses to the number of seven hundred entering on a forced march, leaving 
the rest to come up as they could. Riding night and day in their impatience to at- 
tain their object, the Americans arrived in the vicinity of the British camp on the ,~So 
morning of October seventh, and immediately arranged the attack. The British had 
more men, and a strong position on the top of a wooded hill ; but every man in the 
attacking force was a trained Indian fighter and thoroughly at home in such a situ- 
ation. They charged from opposite sides of the hill, and a repulse on one side was 
immediately followed by an assault on the other, thus keeping the British in constant 
motion, and gradually reducing the intervening space, until arriving at the top they 
surrounded and overpowered the enemy, forcing unconditional surrender. Ferguson 
and tuUy one-third of his men were killed, and the victors secured a large store of 
arms and ammunition, the lack of which was everywhere a serious hindrance to the 
struggling patriots. 



feiiifl's iHo until in 



34 



//.Vo 




l!i>VM rjy AUii 





The tide of war thus ebbing and flowing, rose perceptibly for the Americans from 
this time, the people, encouraged by the destruction of the merciless foe that dom- 
inated the frontier, rising in scattered bands to pick off" isolated British posts and even 
driving the main army to seek security nearer the sea-coast. Marion and Sumter ap- 
peared in unexpected quarters, cutting off" supplies and routing lovalist militia, leading 
Tarleton hither and thither in futile attempts to reach them. He finally came up 
with Sumter at Blackstocks and was severely repulsed. The British, once more on 
the defensive, were checked in their northward march, and all that was needed to 
permanentiv cripple them was an organized armv to which the roving bands could 
rally. This Congress undertook, for the third time, to supply ; but depleted ranks 
and bankrupt finances were conditions not lightly subjected, and Greene, whom 
Washington was privileged to appoint to this command, could obtain but little in 
material equipment, either of men or outfittings, and was obliged to depend on ap- 
peals to the Southern States, backed by recommendations of the central government. 
In some aspects Greene's expedition was in the nature of a forlorn hope. Two 
armies had been sacrificed in the same cause, exhausting the resources of the northern 
division, which could now spare but a mere bodv-guard to the departing genera). 
Disafl^ection was rife in the Contmcntal army on account of the worthlessness of the 
currency with which it was paid, and enlistments were correspondingly difficult to 
obtain. In the face of this discouraging outlook Greene went resolutely to his task, 
rousing the country as he traveled through it and importuning the governors for aid 
of any kind. His energetic measures brought him some immediate assistance, and 
more followed as he journeyed South, leaving a train of activity where apathy had 



(Srnrtal (Grrrur Qoto Soiittj 




#iKi>^-%^*v 




Mltv^nXivia^ T u 



before prevailed. He reached Charlotte, North Carolina, December second, and 
relieved Gates, who had since his defeat at Camden gathered the available militia of 
the state to the number of two thousand, to replace his lost army. These troops 
were raw and undisciplined, but with Steuben and Lee, whom Congress had assign- 
ed to the Southern department, Greene set about the work ot fitting them for service, 
while thev also formed a nucleus for gathering recruits. 

In appointing Greene to the command ot the Southern division, Washington had 
deprived his army of a strong general, but he was content in the knowledge of the 
special fitness of Greene for the duty to which he was assigned. His notable service 
as quartermaster-general after the failure of the Board ot War, and his eminent abil- 
ity in the field, were considerations that impelled Washington to urge his appoint- 
ment to this post after the destruction of Lincoln's army at Charleston; but Congress, 
enamoured of Gates, chose the latter. In the interval since that time the contrast of 
ability in the two men had become 
apparent even to Congress. While 
Gates hurried to destruction in the 
South, Greene gained fresh honors in 
New Jersey, where he checked Clin- 
ton's advance at Springfield and sent 
him in retreat to Staten Island. 

Incursions of this character were 
the extent of British activity in the 
North during the spring and summer 
of 1780. Washington had moved 
into New Jersey and driven out Knyp- 
hausen, whose force was greatly su- 
perior, before Clinton arrived from 
Charleston ; and while the latter was 
engaged in his abortive raid, the Ameri- 
can commander defended his position 
on the Hudson. His army, impover- 
ished and reduced in numbers through 
the incapacity ot Congress, was re- 
inforced by the arrival at Newport, 
Rhode Island, Julv tenth, of a power- 
ful French fleet under Admiral Ternay, 
bringing Count de Rochambeau with 
six thousand soldiers. The strength 
of the allied forces was thus sufficient 
to imperil the British at New York, 
and their outlying posts were finally 
abandoned for the better protection of 
the larger interests. 

At the British headquarters, and 
in the heart of the American councils, 
events were making for one of the 
saddest burdens that Washington, in 



I 




17S0 



lySo 



atrftial of iFtrnrf) EUics 



36 




{^tOT&xan 




7'<' 



'777 



,77s 



1771} 



all iIk- 111! • :!• Kltln.' RfV'iiutiMii, \\ ,1 ,.1 \ ' ' '■'■ lit-'Hcvlk t Ar;: :, ■.'. 'I'oc 

name is now idcntitied with treachery, was at that time one ot the most valiant oHiccrs 
in the patriot army. Impetuous and ardent, he was ever at the forefront of action, and 
his self-ignoring courage inspired those about him to victorious effort in the face of 
impending disaster. He had led a starving army through the northern wilderness to 
Quebec, his energetic struggle for the control of Lake Champlain had delavcd bv a 
year the British advance to the Hudson and operated for its final defeat, and his re- 
surgent valor at Saratoga turned the tide of battle in favor of his cause. The elements 
of character that contributed to these worthy ends were equally potent in self-seeking 
baseness, when the high impulse of patriotism had given place to one of personal gain 
and revenge. The wound received by Arnold in the charge at Saratoga incapacitated 
him, temporarily, for active ser\'icc, and when sufficiently recovered he was put in 
command of Philadelphia, which the British had then recently evacuated. Here he 
married the daughter of a Tory, and formed associations that opened the wav for 
later operations. Life at the capital developed the weaknesses of his nature, and he 
became involved in difficulties that brought him successively before a committee of 
Congress and a court-martial ; the former exonerated him, but the latter, though 
acquitting him ot the charges preferred, qualified the verdict by directing Washington 
to administer a forma! reprimand. The harshness of this measure was greatly miti- 

|ltct)mond ^n. 








i«niov = <Gf ureal liriirttfrt arnolir 




,^KKfTj^i<^n 





nSo 






gated bv the implied praise which 
Washington, who admired Arnold 
and believed him wronged, incor- 
porated in the rebuke; but to 
Arnold it was no less a rebuke, 
and it weighed in turning him from 
a life of honor to one of ignominy. 

Smarting under his wrong, real 
or fancied, and looking to the possi- 
bilities of personal emolument, he 
opened cautious communication 
with the British, who saw in this 
an opportunity of acquiring by 
treachery what they could not take 
by force of arms. The American 
fort at West Point, on the Hudson, 
was coveted, and Arnold set out to 
obtain the post of commandant that 
he might work its ruin, for which 
he was to receive a large monev 
consideration and a commission as 
brigadier-general in the British 
army. Though Washington had 
other plans for Arnold's employ- 
ment, such was his regard for the 
man, that he deferred to the lat- 

ter's wishes, and the first requirement of the plot was effected. From possession it 
was but a step to delivery; but that step was carelessly executed by Major Andr6, 
the British emissary sent to meet Arnold and arrange the details, and while on his 
way back to the Vulture, a sloop-of-war which had brought him up the river, he 
was captured at Tarrvtown and the full import of his mission discovered. John 
Paulding, David Williams and Isaac \'an Wart, the vigilant rangers who seized 
Andre?, took him, in spite of liberal offers for liberty, to the American headquarters 
at Northcastle ; and a few days later he was hanged at Tappan, after having confessed 
to being a spy, and notwithstanding strenuous efforts on the part of Clinton to save 
his officer's life. Through a blunder of the officers to whom Andr6 was delivered, 
Arnold was notified of the failure of his conspiracy and succeeded in escaping to 
the British on the day, September twenty-fifth, that the surrender was to have lySo 
taken place. 

To Washington, who arrived unexpectedly at West Point on the morning of 
Arnold's flight, the moral disappointment was particularly severe. Arnold was a 
valuable officer, but the gap which he left could, in a way, be filled. The real 
calamity was the shaken confidence in human integrity engendered by the perfidy of 
one so highly esteemed, and who owed so much to the kindly consideration of his 
superior. It opened unconsidered possibilities of defeat, and such was the improba- 
bility in Arnold's case that no limit could be set to unwelcome suspicion. Happily 
no further cause for such existed, and the treason of Arnold remains the one blot on 
the record of patriotism. 



J>cI)ooIi^lloiisc of Itantiolpl)$f anti 
•Jcffcrsons €uchal]oc Ba. 



EtnoUf'B rrraffjevff 




y|>i|>M I Jl^Av^lV 









JM r s t U r r 3 a m t s ii i D r r 7" a 



-.S/ 



In ihe North the year 1780 closed as it had passed, without important aggression 
by either side. To Washington, in his quarters in New Jersey, the outlook was 
cheerless in the extreme., All the old familiar besetments of failing men and scant 
supplies harassed him with stubborn persistence. As an executive bodv Congress 
was a failure, and Washington's strenuous entreaties were received with indifference 
and apathy. The lack of funds was the most serious difficultv, and after its own 
conspicuous failure in this field. Congress, with unusual discernment, shifted the 
burden to an individual of large means and earnest patriotism, bv appointing Robert 
Morris, of Philadelphia, to be Superintendent of Finances. In the carlv days of the 
war, Morris had answered Washington's appeal with fifty thousand dollars raised on 
his personal credit, and, though the task was one that few men would have cared to 
undertake and fewer still have succeeded in, he now applied his ripe business ability 
to the problem, and with the cooperation of Gouverneur Morris, of New York, 
established a bank and raised the credit of the government on the strength of his own 
acceptance of the trust. The monev thus available was of immense assistance to 
Washington, enabling him to recoup his armv at a most critical time, when, as later 
developments proved, unreadiness would have been fatal. 

Benedict Arnold, with his commission from King George, had been sent to ravage 
Virginia, and with Cornwallis and Tarleton in the Carolinas, the importance of the 
British strength in the South was clearlv apparent to the American commander. He 
dispatched Lafayette with twelve hundred men to meet .Arnold, who was burning and 



ii 1) r I- 1 1*1 V V { « 




i&toTQmn 




39 



pillaging with the energy that had been characteristic of his worthy efforts. Early 
in March, Lafayette reached Annapolis, at which place he was to join the French 
fleet which had been sent from Newport to convoy him to Portsmouth, where 
Arnold was entrenched. The plan was frustrated by the appearance of a British 
fleet under Arbuthnot near the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, and as a result of the 
ensuing action the French were obliged to return to Rhode Island, leaving Lafayette 
without the means of reaching Arnold. Clinton, though yet with no plan beyond 
disconnected raids, sent General Phillips with two thousand men to join Arnold, 
whom the former was to relieve of command. His mission thus rendered hopeless, 
Lafayette was ordered to join Greene, who was beginning to make his presence felt 
in the farther South. 

One of the typical figures of the war was Daniel Morgan of Virginia. Born to 
humble station, he served as private in the early Indian wars, and at the outbreak of 
the Revolution raised a regiment of Virginia riflemen and hurried to the front. 
His men formed an important part of the expedition to Quebec and were prominent 
in many later actions, notably at Saratoga, where they won the praise of the enemy. 
Morgan had not received the recognition his achievements merited and had with- 
drawn to his Virginia plantation, when Gates's defeat at Camden revealed the desper- 
ate situation of the cause in the South. Repressing personal considerations, he made 
haste to join Gates, and soon received from Congress a commission as brigadier-general. 
He was engaged in organizing his troops when Greene arrived, and with the approval 
of the latter he moved to the westward, and gathering the militia, stopped the ravages 
of loyalists in that section. Cornwallis 



watched with apprehension Morgan's 
growing power, and sent Tarleton, with 
his light infantry, to check his operations. 
Morgan retreated before him until he 
reached a favorable position at Cowpens 
— on the boundary between North and 
South Carolina — where he established 
himself, and instructing and encouraging 
his men, he waited in battle order for the 
British to come up. They arrived on 
the seventeenth of January and dashed 
upon the Americans with an impetuosity 
calculated to break the ranks of the lat- 
ter; but they were prepared for this and 
met the assault boldly, changing forma- 
tion to bring fresh troops to the front, 
and then by a partial retreat led the British 
forward, enabling a division under Colo- 
nel Washington to attack them in the 
rear. Met by fire before and behind, 
the enemy soon succumbed in uncondi- 
tional surrender. Tarleton himself es- 
caped, but upwards of six hundred of 
his men fell into the hands of the Ameri- 



4Batc po?t MDcstobcr 




rSf 



17S1 



JHovflirn^B Tirtovi? at eotourns 





Catr JKilCBtoUrr 



cans, with all tlic arms 
and baggage of the com- 
mand. Morgan's victory 
was a brilliant one, his 
force being inferior to 
that of his adversary, and 
was largely the result of 
clear judgment and care- 
ful planning, backed by 
experienced troops. 

Although Tarlcton's 
command was destroyed, 
:t was dangerous for Mor- 
an to remain within 
.ach of Comwallis, who 
was sure to retaliate for 
the loss of his favorite 
regiment; and as soon as 
the battle was over a rapid 
retreat was begun, which, 
before the ne.\t morning, had carried the Americans well beyond the Broad 
River. Events proved the wisdom of this course, and the advantage thus gained 
barely sufficed to save them from the pursuing army, which was lightened by burning 
its heavy baggage, that the chase might be unimpeded. Greene also realized the 
importance of outwitting Comwallis, and on learning of the victory started at once 
to join Morgan, at the same time sending messengers ahead to gather boats at all the 
rivers on the line of march, that cvcrvthing might be in readiness when the troops 
arrived. Without this foresight all the strenuous efforts of Morgan would have come 
to naught, as successively at the Catawba and the Yadkin the Americans had onlv 
the river between them and their pursuers. 

Greene's army, following close upon its general, joined Morgan's division at 
Guilford, the ninth of February, and together they continued the flight to the Dan, 
where Kosciuszko, sent ahead by Greene, was preparing defences. The British 
were so close behind that it was only by employing a rear guard to engage them in 
skirmishes that the Americans succeeded in crossing the river ; when this was safelv 
accomplished the skirmishing party followed rapidly, leaving the enemy baffled at the 
bank. The British had no boats, and as it was out of the question to ford under 
the fire of the .Americans, thcv withdrew and gave up the chase. 

Greene soon returned to the country south ot the Dan, and for some weeks har- 
rassed Comwallis by raids on outlving divisions, and bv intercepting his recruits and 
supplies. Every attempt to reach the .Americans was frustrated by a rapid change of 
position, and after seriously fatiguing his armv to no purpose, Comwallis withdrew 
to rest his men and seek recruits. This gave Greene a like opportunity, and the 
militia, for which his aides had scoured the neighboring states while the British were 
being held in check, began to arrive in appreciable force. When sufficiently strength- 
ened, Greene, who saw the necessitv of a battle which should cripple his advcrsarv, 
even though himself obliged to retreat, marched to Guilford Court House, which he 



f« V a 4i n • li r t V r a t 




(&tOTts^mn 




4J 



had selected as an advantageous position. The next day, March fifteenth, the British 
accepted the challenge and boldly opened the attack. Greene's forces, which number- 
ed somewhat over four thousand, were largely untrained militia, and at the first 
charge of the enemy, the firing line, thus constituted, broke and fled without offering 
any effective resistance. The Continentals, who were next behind, fought with 
stead V regularity and twice repulsed the British, who only saved the day by the reck- 
less use ot artillery fired through their own ranks. Greene withdrew in good order, 
but minus a large part of the militia, which failed to return after the first rout. 

Cornwallis, who lost in the neighborhood of six hundred men, took up his march to 
Wilmington to refit before coming northward. Greene immediately followed him, 
although defeated and with his force reduced by desertion — his loss in battle being less 
than a third that of the British; but he was compelled by the continued desertion of 
militia to abandon the pursuit at the Deep River when almost up with the enemy. 

With the British forces divided, as they were by Cornwallis's expedition to Virginia, 
it became necessary for Greene to choose between following the former to the North, 
and the alternative of moving against Lord Rawdon, who held Camden and a chain 
of fortified posts in South Carolina. He chose the latter plan, and quickly with- 
drawing from the vicinity of Cornwallis, that the latter might not detect his purpose in 
time to obstruct his movement, he marched for Camden, April second, and arrived that 
night at Hobkirk's Hill, within a short distance of the enemy's works. Rawdon, think- 
ing to surprise Greene, whom he knew to be as yet without artillery, led an attack early 
on the morning of April 
seventh, and succeeded 
in dislodging the Ameri- 
cans. Greene was sur- 
prised, but not unpre- 
pared, as he had camped 
his army in battle form to 
guard against this possi- 
bility. The struggle was 
sharp, and for some time 
the advantage appeared 
to be with the .Ameri- 
cans, but at a critical 
moment one of those 
unnecessary weakenings, 
which had turned the 
scale against them on 
many other occasions, 
broke the formation, and 
seeing the inevitable re- 
sult, Greene withdrew 
his men while yet pos- 
sible to do so without 
sacrifice. 

Reinf-orcements ' I ' ] M . 3? S t JF t U I «T I S 

reached Rawdon a few ! ' - -jjj^ t g t U t V 




rS/ 



(Rvttnt*ti a^ampaifin 




(S^orj8i»n 




uccL> U;cr, in -.pi:c o, Lut; jikI Mariun, whu, a: the lir>t iiiv^j-;..^n .-: ;:,<. j.lai., liaJ 
been sent to cut off his supplies. With this added force, Rawdon started out early 
in May to reach, by a dtitour, a position in Greene's rear, which he hoped to find 
unguarded. The .-.agacious general was not to be caught in such a simple manner, 
however, and changed his position for one so strong that the British feared to attack. 
Unable to dislodge Greene, and threatened by the latter's outlving divisions, which 
had already taken Fort Watson, onj: of his important posts, Rawdon abandoned 
Camden, May tenth, and moved to the sea-coast. On his wav he hoped to 
strengthen the garrison at Fort Motte, but he was too late, and arrived May twelfth, 
'7^' just in time to witness its surrender. Sumter had taken Orangeburg the dav before, 
and Neilson's Ferry and Fort Granby fell within a few days. Lee and Pickens 
with their divisions entered Georgia and captured Fort Galphin, Mav twentv-first, 
reaching Augusta, their objective point, a few hours later. Here thcv met deter- 
mined resistance. The two forts, Gricrson and Cornwallis, were besieged, and 
the former, which was the weaker, was soon taken bv Pickens, enabling him to go 
to the assistance of Lee, whose operations had so far had little effect on the strong 
garrison of Fort Cornwallis, which fought gallantly and held out with stubborn 
tenacity. The Americans were no less determined, however, and gradually weak- 
ening the defense by daily engagements, they finally assaulted the fort on June fifth, 
and forced its surrender. 

One of the strongest British posts in the South, and after the fall of Augusta the 
only one in that section remaining in their control, was Ninetv-Six, Georgia. To 
this Greene directed his attention after recuperating his armv, and opened systematic 




!^^^0^ '?^' -v^'^i' ^^ ^'^'H , ij 




.if a V m i n t 11 , (T D n r I o t t r s U i M r T a 

T h o m n s J € f f r r s <> It 

S:\x\\\xtx ^ 2L r r a n ^ }3 f c b r n s 




(^tOTjS^i^n 











€ u V t fti tt s r » iWil i n t a m fs t) tt V 7T a . 

Desi^nCil by Sir C h r i a f of h f r Wren 

siege operations, which, with the help of Lee, who had joined him alter the victory 
of Augusta, had reduced the strong garrison to a point where surrender could not be 
long delayed, when the Americans received word of the approach of Lord Rawdon, 
who had again left the seaboard to come to the relief of the besieged post. Greene, '^ ' 
who was too weak to cope with such a force, reluctantlv withdrew and led Rawdon 
a futile chase from point to point, until the latter, unable to disperse the Americans, 
and fearing to remain in the position he had come so far to sustain, withdrew from 
Ninety-Six, taking the garrison and loyalists, and returned finally to the coast. 
Thus the purpose of Greene's campaign, apparently frustrated, was accomplished bv 
the force of conditions his earlier work had created. 

Detachments of the American troops followed the retreating British to the out- 
skirts of Charleston, harassing them and preventing scattered raids and pillage. They 
also, as a result of engagements with outlying commands, captured upwards of one 
hundred and fiftv prisoners, among whom were a number of officers. 

Lord Rawdon embarked for England early in July, and his successor, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Stewart, undertook to reoccupv the country from which Rawdon had been 
driven. He started, late in August, with between two and three thousand men, and 
camped on the Santee near Fort Motte. Greene, who was encamped in the neigh- 
boring hills, had rested and strengthened his army, and he set out on receipt of in- 



Xtntt» = fiifr i51j«icttate5f 




ih^OTQl^n 



i-}Si 





(Tvoflan 3)l»irf ?iorust C;ro\ir lii?. 



Stewart's move- 
ments, to inter- 
cept the latter 
and at the same 
time to assail his 
tummunications 
by detachments 
in his rear. This 
plan was so suc- 
cessful that the 
British were 
obliged to with- 
draw to Eutaw 
Springs, some 
twenty miles 
down the river. 
Here they se- 
lected a strong 

position and awaited the Americans, who reached that vicinity September seventh, but 
were undiscovered until the morning of the eighth, a short time before they were ready 
to attack. The armies were evenly matched, and although the Americans pressed 
steadily forward and easily destroyed the enemy's outer lines, the resistance was able and 
determined, and for a while seemed sufficient to hold the ground. At this point 
Greene's superior tactics prevailed, and the Continentals, being formed in to replace 
the exhausted militia, which had so far borne bravelv the brunt of the battle, charged 
the British before they had time to recover from the fire of the militia, and pene- 
trating their line, drove them in disorder to the shelter of a brick building about 
which the camp was set. Unfortunatelv the victors were over-confident of suc- 
cess and scattered in search of plunder, with the result that the British were enabled 
to gather sufficient strength to render the final outcome doubtful, and Greene, bit- 
terly disappointed, yet ever watchful of the safetv of his armv, felt compelled to 
withdraw and trust to the severity of the blow he had inflicted to force the enemy 
to retreat. He took with hiin five hundred prisoners, making the British loss, with 
those left on the field, nearly a thousand; which, as was anticipated, decided Stewart 
to return to the coast, where the protection of the British ships formed their only 
stronghold. .As before, detachments under Marion and Lee followed and harassed 
the retreating army, which, to be less encumbered, destroyed large quantities of 
stores, and left behind more than a thousand stands of arms. Greene retired, 
according to his custom, to gather reinforcements, and later moved to the vicinity of 
Charleston, where his presence .served to restrain the Briti.sh and check their raids on 
the surrounding country; but his work was practicallv done, and the South, the most 
cTuelly devastated section of the Union, was, with the exception of a few points on 
the coast, freed from British dominion. 

Simultaneously with these victories in South Carolina came the master-stroke of 
the Revolution, — the operations about Yorktown which led to the surrender of Corn- 
wallis. The successive raids into Virginia had attracted attention to that quarter, 



n ti t a Ui S V V i n 6 




(^tOTS^mn 




but the expedition under Phillips that added two thousand men to Arnold's already 
strong force, and Cornwallis's approach from the South, gave to the situation there 
an importance not hitherto possessed. 

Washington, in his survey of existing conditions, realized the necessity of a decisive 
engagement that should successfully terminate the Revolution, which otherwise stood 
in grave danger of dissolution as a result of the apathy and incompetence of Congress, 
and the failure of the states not directly menaced, to continue the much-needed 
supplies of money and men. To this end he sought the cooperation of Rochambeau 
and his French troops, and the fleet under De Barras, recently arrived at Newport. 
The choice lay between New York and Yorktown, at either of which places the 
ships could cooperate with the land forces, an essential condition to the complete 
victory that Washington desired to ensure. His preference at first was for New 
York as offering the greater opportunity, and early in Julv a combined attack was 
made on the forts at the upper end of Manhattan. The attempt was fruitless as to 
its main issue, but it served to alarm Clinton, and caused him to withdraw further 
aid from Cornwallis ; it also served as a feint and enabled Washington to make un- 
suspected preparations for carrying out the alternative plan, to attack the forces now 
combined and entrenched at Yorktown. This plan gained opportune encouragement 
by the receipt of assurance of cooperation from Count De Grasse, who was on his 
way from the West Indies with another and larger fleet. 

Lafayette, whom Cornwallis unsuccessfully endeavored to isolate, had been joined 
by Wayne with his command, and together they had driven the British from the interior, 

engaging them at Williamsburgand Green Spring, and 
held them at bay at Yorktown. Neither Cornwallis 
nor Clinton had any idea that Washington would 
abandon New York with his main army, and this, 
with theoperations alreadv attempted, and the elabor- 
ate preparations made by the latter with the appar- 
ent purpose of continuing on the same lines, enabled 
the allied armies to slip away, leaving only a detach- 
ment to hold the British to Manhattan, and get 
well out of reach before Clinton discovered their 
absence. When he became aware of the move- 
ment he vainly endeavored to divert them from 
their purpose by sending Arnold, who had been un- 
appreciatively ordered north by Cornwallis, into 
Connecticut to ravage and excite the country. Forts 
Trumbull and Griswold, near New London, were 
taken, and at the latter. Colonel Ledyard and nearly 
a hundred of his men were murdered, after having 
surrendered in good faith. New London was burned 
to complete the wanton destruction. 

The armies under Washington crossed the Hud- 
son .August nineteenth, and marching through Phila- 
delphia, arrived September eighth at the head of 
Chesapeake Bay, where they gathered transports 
and awaited the French fleet. De Grasse had 



iFvanftfovt Ztg. 




//<?/ 



Thomas Jeffersott 



jHoUrmrnts of ^Utttt iFovccfii 



4b 



ijSi 




(Ktorj8i»n 





^i^: 







(jr I a r fe 
iil u 1 1 r V V 



7i> 
i> ?1> ill 



u 6 



arrived at the entrance to 
the Chesapeake and was 
landing troops sent to re- 
inlortc Roihambeau, when 
a British fleet under Ad- 
miral Graves appeared otT 
the capes, and the French 
at once went out to meet 
it. The ensuing action, 
while not eminently de- 
cisive, was severely felt by 
the British, who lost one 
ship and were obliged to 
sail north to reht. On his 
return, De Grasse found 
awaiting him the squad- 
ron under Dc Barras, who 
had eluded the English fleet 
sent to intercept him, and 
arrived safely with trans- 
ports and siege tools, and together they proceeded up the bay and brought down 
the troops, which were landed at Williamsburg, September twenty-sixth. Joined 
by Lafayette and the French reinforcements, the combined armies, numbering in 
the neighborhood of sixteen thousand men, took up positions about Yorktown, Sep- 
tember twenty-eighth, and laid down the first lines of the siege. 

With the river, against which the town was set, and Gloucester Point, opposite, 
in the hands of the enemy, Yorktown was ill-adapted to successful defense, and 
Cornwallis soon found himself surrounded with steadily approaching armies. His 
first position was in trenches outside the town, but he was soon obliged to withdraw 
to the inner fortifications, while the besiegers occupied his abandoned works. Day 
by dav the lines contracted and the heavy guns battered the defenses with steady ef- 
fectiveness. October fourteenth two outlying redoubts were taken, one by the 
Americans and one by the French, and Cornwallis, realizing the desperateness of his 
situation, resolved to stake all on an attempt to escape by the river. On the night of 
the sixteenth he embarked a detachment of his men which reached the opposite bank 
in safetv, but the sudden advent of a storm frustrated his plan, and the troops already 
over were with difficulty brought back the following day. 

His last hope gone, Cornwallis sought terms of surrender, and on the eighteenth 
the articles were signed. The next dav eight thousand men laid down their arms to 
the Americans, and the British ships with a thousand more were delivered to the 
French. The ceremony was very imposing, the conquered army assuming all the 
dignity permitted by the articles of surrender. Cornwallis remained in his quarters 
under plea of sickness, presenting his apologies to Washington through General 
O'Hara, who also delivered the British commander's sword to General Lincoln, 
whom Washington, as a slight recompense for the former's like humiliation at Char- 
leston, had appointed to receive it. 

The careful plan had been wrought out, the overwhelming blow had been struck; 



(T V n U) a I li b it v r r u 5 r r « 




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ii 

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and although it could not be immediately known, the end of the Revolution had 
come. To Washington there vet appeared much need of continued effort, and great 
exertion was required on his part to prevent an easv relaxation after such a notable 
victorv. King George was still insistent for war, and the British still held New York 
and Charleston. 

Further reinforcements were sent to Greene, who continued to watch Stewart at 
the latter place, and Washington withdrew his army to the highlands of the Hudson. 
Clinton, w'ith late awakening to the danger of Cornwallis's position, had started with 
a relief expedition and arrived at the entrance to the Chesapeake five days after the 
surrender. He immediatelv returned to New York, where the winter was quietly 
spent, and in the spring was succeeded bv Sir Guv Carleton, whose appointment 
marked the accession of the peace party in Parliament, and whose mission was as 
much diplomatic as belligerent. 

Washington's fear of further aggression and his appeals for continued vigilance, 
while justified by considerations of ordinary caution, and the unchanged attitude of 
King George, were happily unfounded, and events slowly but inevitably forwarded 
the termination of the war. 

In England, irresistible surgings of public opinion were steadily decreasing the bal- 
ance of power held by the King and his party, and by the first of March following 
the surrender at Yorktown they were reduced to a minority. King George, whose 
every measure in the historv of the war had been too late for its opportunity, still 
clung to the hope of crushing the rebels, but he was practically alone, and before the 
month had passed. Lord North, his prime minister, was forced by the opposition in 
Parliament to dissolve his cabinet and resign the government to the Whigs. Rock- 
ingham came in at the head of the dominant party, 
but he was broken in health and died soon after, his 
place being taken bv Lord Shelburne, then secre- 
tary of state. 

Franklin, to whose yictoriesof diplomacy America's 
standing abroad was chiefly due, had already opened 
negotiations \vith Shelburne; and with Richard Oswald, 
the latter' s agent, had drafted at Paris the terms of 
peace. After much diplomatic contention, in which 




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Franklin was joined by John Adams, Henry 
Laurens, and John, Jay; and Oswald by Henry 
Strachcy, the preliminary articles were signed the 
thirtieth of November. It was nearly a year 
atcr, September twenty-third, 1783, when the 
final treaty was signed, but the work was done 
when the first draft was agreed to, and this country 
is indebted to the keenness and ability of its rep- 
resentatives, especially to 
Franklin, for much more 
advantageous terms than 
could reasonably have 
been expected. 

The troubles of the 
embryo nation having 
diminished with regard to 
England, the looseness 
and insufficiency of the 
central government be- 
came alarmingly apparent, 
and the army, the only 
real power, from being 
the instrument of liberty, 
threatened oppression at another form. All through the war the inability of Congress to 
provide for the army had been an almost paralyzing difficulty, but in one way or another 
Washington had been able to bridge this condition and maintain an effective organi- 
zation. With the war ended and the urgencv of action less apparent. Congress was 
at the point ot abandoning the soldier with no provision for arrears of pay, and no as- 
surance of even remote recompense for the hardships endured and the battles won. 
'7^J The disaffection thus engendered permeated the entire army and needed but the lead- 
ership of an active spirit to rise to organized revolt. This leader was at hand in the 
person of Major John Armstrong, and through him the grievances of officers and men 
were declared in the torm of a written address, in which the army was called upon to 
rise in its power and assume the government. Earlv in the previous vear a some- 
'7^' what similar movement had resulted in a proposition to crown Washington and de- 
clare him king ; but though touched bv this evidence of devotion, his high character 
was proof against all allurement, and he unhesitatingly rejected the offer, denouncing 
the principle, and pointing out the priceless benefits of the libertv for which thev had 
fought. This later and more determined demonstration called for more decisive ac- 
tion, as it was approved by the general bodv of officers, and a dav appointed for in- 
augurating the plan. 

Filled with grief, alike tor the necessities of his men and the danger of the nation, 
Washington rebuked the movement in general orders, and then, calling his officers to 
'7^J meet him, he reviewed the seriousness of the step contemplated, and with deep 
emotion appealed to them to stand by him and their country, trusting to the final 
triumph of justice and the righting of their wrongs. Promising his continued efforts 
in their behalf, the general withdrew, and the officers, yielding to his entreaties. 



K- u 11 V r r r t i n i in m i n r n t 





49 



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formally resolved against 
the uprising. Alarmed 
bv the imminence of this 
peril, Congress was stirred 
to action, and by partial 
payment, and land war- 
rants, succeeded in paci- 
fying the troops, prepara- 
tory to disbandment. 

Wayne, whom Greene 
had sent, soon after his 
arrival from Yorktown, to 
operate in Georgia, drove 
the British out of Savan- 
nah the following Julv, and on the fourteenth of December the same year, two 
weeks after the preliminarv treaty was signed at Paris, they evacuated Charleston. 
New York was now the onlv port held, and Carleton occupied that uneventfully 
during the following year, until the signing of the final treaty, September twenty-third, 
was announced. He departed in state, November twenty-fifth, and as the British 
marched to their boats, Washington, with Governor Clinton, entered from the north 
and took possession. By this final act the United States were freed from British sover- 
eignty, and the independence declared in 1776 was accomplished before the world. 

His work finished, Washington called his officers about him, and bade them fare- 
well with the simple dignitv that had characterized his communion with them, but 
with deep emotion and fervent wishes for their future prosperity. In silence and in 
tears he embraced each one, and then, departing, made his way to the ferry, followed 
bv the company, and, entering his barge, he raised his hat in final salute and began his 
homeward journey. What the Revolution could have been without Washington, is 
difficult to imagine. Through it all he stands preeminent, and continued study of 
his life serves but to further impress his greatness. To the wisdom and courage that 
planned his operations and effected them, were added nobleness and virtue that bound 
his army to him in bonds of love, that held when duty was forgotten. 

George III, to whose unwise activity the independence of the United States is 
due, was, with all his deficiencies in statecraft, an honest and patriotic ruler. Sur- 
rounded by scheming and intriguing politicians, with only here and there a straight- 
forward leader, it is little wonder that he became irretrievably committed to a policy 
in which there was, from his point of view, room for honest belief, and which his 
fawning courtiers were ever ready to extol. A complicated and disproportionate 

system of representation placed undue power 
in the hands of a few, while the great body of 
the people was very inadequately represented. 
These conditions, in times so degenerate, made 
it impossible for the King to gain his ends ex- 
cept by barter and intrigue, and we find him 
often the distracted victim of unfriendly and 
exacting cliques whose temporary strength 
forces recognition. 

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prejudice outraged by the resistance of the colonists, King George, in his policy of 
sui^jcction, was at least true to his natural instincts, fur which wc must allow while 
condemning the vindictive and oppressive measures resulting from it. Strong and 
unrelenting as was his enmity in war, his right-hcartcdncss is evidenced by the 
equal sinccritv of his friendliness when iinaliv he realized the failure of his cause ; 
his prayer to this end expressed before Parliament, when, with emotion, he 
acknowledged England's defeat, that "religion, language, interest and affection 
might prove a bond of permanent union between the two countries," is a worthy 
tribute of magnanimity, but it has been tardy of fulfillment, and the century 
now closing has, from the beginning, witnessed strife, and jealousy, and unworthy 
suspicion. 

Recent events, however, have clearly revealed the underlying kinship and natural 
sympathv of the two nations, and notwithstanding the contention which must result 
from the conscientious discharge of duty by representatives of these governments, 
a warmer friendship is assured, which it is hoped will ultimately realize the contrite 
benediction of King George III. 




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ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES A FEW OF THE SMALLER 
PIECES OF THE GEORGIAN PATTERN ARE REPRESENTED. 
IT IS MADE IN STERLING SILVER ONLY (925-1000 FINE) 
AND INCLUDES EVERY ARTICLE OF TABLE FLAT WARE. 
A CATALOGUE FULLY ILLUSTRATING THIS LINE 
MAY BE HAD FROM LEADING JEWELERS, OR WILL 
BE MAILED TO ANY ADDRESS ON REQUEST. 



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IN adopting the Georgian Style as a motive for this 
design, we recognize the wide and still growing appre- 
ciation of every manifestation of colonial architecture. 
While this style is more nearly indigenous than any other 
that the changing tastes of recent years have approved, — its 
precedent being identified with so much that is vital in the 
earlv history of our country, and its characteristics so 
amenable to existing conditions, — we must remember that 
plans and fittings were first brought from England, where, 
earlv in the reign of George III, the reproduction of 
classical designs became fashionable. 

Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren had long before 
revived and adapted the teachings of Palladio and other 
Italian masters, and their influence prepared the way for 
popular acceptance of the promulgations of James Stewart, 
who returned, in I 762, from extended residence and study 
in Greece. The first fruits of the application of a style 
developed bv the needs of public and religious life in a mild 
climate, to the domestic requirements of England, were 
absurd in the extreme; but a growing recognition of its 
limitations evolved the charming if not pure stvle with 
which we are familiar. 

In the search for noveltv its merits were for many years 
overlooked ; but gradually the beauty of the old work has 
become apparent, and there is every reason to believe that 
the favor in which this style is now established will be 
lasting. 



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♦ ♦ A COPY OF THE 

(Tolontiil liooU, 

IIKST SERIES, IN 
WHICH ARE PICTURED 
AND DESCRIBED MANY 
HISTORIC PLACES IN 
NEWBURYPORT AND 
NEIGHBORING CITIES, 
WILL BE SENT, ON 
REQUEST, BY THE 
TOWLE MFG. COM- 
PANY, SILVERSMITHS. 
NEWBURYPORT. MASS.. 
AND CHICAGO. ILL. 




Compiled and ARRASOiiu liv Oeorge P. Tilton, 

or The Towlb Mfg. Company. 

Printed by Carl H. Hkintzemann, Boston, Ma5s. 





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